What happens when…
Whether you’re ghosting alcohol for the first time or The Wagon is your local, this is what happens in your body and brain when you go sober for October
01 Beer fear
That alcohol is as anxiety-inducing as an email from your boss on a Sunday will be news to no one. But hangxiety is the least of it, says David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London and author of Drink: The New Science Of Alcohol And Your Health. ‘Alcohol increases the stress hormones that make depression worse,’ he says. It does so by wreaking havoc on the region of your brain that regulates hormones. He notes that while withdrawal can temporarily lower mood, your mental health should start to improve after two weeks. We’ll drink to that.
02 Dream on
Sleeping it off: sorry, not a thing. While alcohol increases slow-wave sleep (aka the deep kind) for the first few hours, thanks to its ability to increase production of the sleepinducing chemical adenosine, when that subsides you’re more likely to wake up ahead of schedule. Swap your Friday night tipple for a G&free, though, and your sleep pattern will begin to stabilise. Meaning not only will you notch up more hours of slumber – with health benefits ranging from a clearer complexion to a stronger heart – it will be better quality sleep, too.
03 Seeing red
Not quite the healthy glow coveted by skinfluencers, the rosy flush that rosé delivers is the result of vasodilation. Eh? ‘This refers to the widening and bursting of blood vessels under the skin,’ explains Professor Nutt. What’s more, alcohol’s dehydrating (it’s a diuretic) and inflaming properties also damage your skin’s elasticity – arecipe for fine lines. After four weeks of no-gronis you can expect a clearer co
