Give up booze for a month and be healthier

[MillCreek]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129502.600-our-liver-vacation-is-a-dry-january-really-worth-it.html#.VK1t4ntqmQf

The British medical establishment has been experimenting with the concept of a 'dry month' for a few years now. Benefits include lower amounts of liver fat, cholesterol and blood glucose.

[Ben]

But if I have lower amounts of fat, how will my arteries stay lubricated? 

[gunsmith]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129502.600-our-liver-vacation-is-a-dry-january-really-worth-it.html#.VK1t4ntqmQf

The British medical establishment has been experimenting with the concept of a 'dry month' for a few years now. Benefits include lower amounts of liver fat, cholesterol and blood glucose.

I was told I had high cholesterol after 17 years of not drinking 

[Ron]

I was told I had high cholesterol after 17 years of not drinking 

The drop was only 5%. That is not enough to go from high to low cholesterol unless you were only marginally high.

 

[dm1333]

Was there any mention of how much these people were drinking before they gave it up.

[zxcvbob]

I sometimes give up alcohol during Lent.  (I don't think I could give up coffee for that long)
Part of it is to give my liver a rest.  It's amazing how one's tolerance for alcohol resets in a month and a half -- and how quickly it comes back when you start drinking again.

[AJ Dual]

Cutting out sugar, white flour, corn, and rice will drop your LDL a lot more.

[dogmush]

No.

[GigaBuist]

I was told I had high cholesterol after 17 years of not drinking 

I had an idiot of a doctor tell me it was a "waste of resources" to give me a cholesterol test at the age of 30 because I drank.  He "knew" the result would be high.  I insisted, pointed out my wife wanted me to get tested.

Result:  115.

He never discussed the results with me.

[Devonai]

I did that last year, 9/17 - 10/17.  I had abdominal pain, my doc said it could be fatty liver, so off I went.  The pain went away, I returned to moderate drinking, and I'm still fine 10 weeks later. If the pain returns, I'll do another month, lather, rinse, repeat.

By the way, all of my blood work is normal, cholesteral was 179. I am convinced the pain was a perniciously pulled muscle, and the doc said it could even be osteoarthritis.  I am being careful either way.  Also I've lost 18 pounds since June, which can't hurt.

[230RN]

It took me a year after I quit to feel 100%, mentally, again.  But I don't know what it did for other health parameters.  That was 1993 or so.

[Doggy Daddy]

Do you suppose these people might have partaken of the free peanuts to go with their beers.

[charby]

If I gave up working for a month I'd be a lot healthier.

[Monkeyleg]

My whole life changed when I quit drinking, some things for the better and some for the worse. In terms of health, it improved a lot. Mentally and emotionally, things got better. My marriage? Not so much, since she was still an alcoholic.

I'm sure I was drinking a lot more than most people here.

[230RN]

THEE:

My whole life changed when I quit drinking, some things for the better and some for the worse. In terms of health, it improved a lot. Mentally and emotionally, things got better. My marriage? Not so much, since she was still an alcoholic.

I'm sure I was drinking a lot more than most people here.

ME:
Exactly the same thing here.  After I quit, her drinking seemed to get worse.

Almost as if she resented my quitting.  

Had to call the cops once when she got particularly violent.  (This was before the "arrest both" doctrine.)  The cops asked if I either wanted her arrested, or committed to a recovery facility.  I opted for the recovery facility, which she resented even worse, saying, "If you had just had me arrested, I would have bailed myself out that night."

But the enforced five-day program in the "drunk tank" didn't do any good.  

[MechAg94]

 I figure I could name those same benefits for using a breathing machine at night with my sleep apnea.  Also, what do they mean by high cholesterol?  The target for high cholesterol is a good bit lower than it used to be.

[AJ Dual]

THEE:
ME:
Exactly the same thing here.  After I quit, her drinking seemed to get worse.

Almost as if she resented my quitting.  

Had to call the cops once when she got particularly violent.  (This was before the "arrest both" doctrine.)  The cops asked if I either wanted her arrested, or committed to a recovery facility.  I opted for the recovery facility, which she resented even worse, saying, "If you had just had me arrested, I would have bailed myself out that night."

But the enforced five-day program in the "drunk tank" didn't do any good.  

IMO, often "programs" exist equally for the addict, and their circle of family and friends affected by the addiction. Either the addict gets better, or the kin at least gets the comfort of knowing they tried.

Personally, I think interventions need to be more binary. On one table is the plane ticket and the rehab escort sitting there. On the other is a bottle of Everclear and a nice ball of high quality Mexican Black Tar.  The 'Will they or won't they?' pussyfooting around is tedious.