Acupuncture and Alcohol: 5 Tips to Stay Balanced After Dry January
Chicago’s Leading Acupuncturists Discuss Alcohol and Chinese Herbal Medicine
Herb + Ohm Acupuncture Clinic on Staying Balanced Following Dry January
It’s no secret the holidays are often associated with indulgence. Celebratory occasions with friends, family, and coworkers often include consuming rich foods, decadent desserts, and, of course, a craft cocktail (or several). But once January begins, people tend to return to a healthier lifestyle by adopting new eating habits, exercise programs, or resolutions to transform mind, body, and spirit in the year ahead. Recently, part of that transformation has also included avoidance of alcohol. According to Nielsen, one in five Americans participated in “Dry January” in 2019, with that figure expected to grow in the years ahead.
But what happens after January?
How can you re-introduce alcohol consumption in a healthy way after detoxing for 30 days? We often hear this question from our acupuncture clients at Herb + Ohm in downtown Chicago: Is it safe to drink alcohol while undergoing acupuncture treatments?
First, it’s important to understand what happens to the body after 30 days of clean living. When your body is in a healthy state of balance, it becomes less tolerant of toxins (i.e. sugar, alcohol, greasy foods). So, after avoiding anything for 30 days, it’s important to remember that you cannot immediately go back to previous levels of consumption without your body having a strong reaction. And in some cases, depending on your prior consumption habits, it’s not advisable to ever return to those levels.
When the body is in a healthy place, it is strong enough to communicate more clearly with you when it encounters a toxin that causes imbalance. Often, your body will manifest very strong symptoms (i.e. nausea, dizziness, fatigue) as a response in an effort to alert you. These symptoms are the body’s way of communicating with you so that you know when something is wrong. While they may be unpleasant, these signals can help people avoid serious long-term health risks associated with unhealthy habits. And these signals can be especially noticeable when you eliminate and then re-introduce alcohol. Be aware: if you try to quickly go from zero drinks back to what you were drinking during the holiday season, the effects of alcohol will be more immediate and severe.
So let’s go back to why people detox in the first place. If the point is to get the body back into balance, then going back to any pre-January levels of consuming toxins (sugar, alcohol, greasy foods) will put your body out of balance very quickly and negate all of your hard work. And if you already went through that 30-day effort to create balance by not drinking, why not try to incorporate alcohol in a way that maintains this balance?
5 tips to Moderately Re-introduce Alcohol After a Successful Dry January
Stay in the range of healthy consumption. According to Mayo Clinic, that level is up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men. Research has shown that there are health benefits from consuming 1 drink per day, but consuming beyond that level can cause a health decline. It’s just like hamburgers: Eat one and you’re probably OK; eat 4 and you likely won’t be feeling very well.
Plan ahead. If you know that your week will be filled with several after-work dinners, happy hours, or social occasions, create a plan for yourself that includes what you will drink and how much. Go so far as to write it down, which often helps with accountability.
Identify 2-3 of your favorite zero-proof drinks to enjoy. From non-alcoholic craft beers to specialty zero-proof cocktails, most bars and restaurants today offer several options for patrons to enjoy without over-doing it. Nothing on the menu? We typically recommend soda with a splash of bitters and a lime. Pro tip: Ask for it in a rocks glass, and the beverage will look and feel just as festive as your average spirit/soda combination.
Stay hydrated. Half the battle with the body’s ability to clear toxins from your system (especially alcohol) is whether the body has enough water. This doesn’t mean you simply need to “drink one glass of water for every alcoholic beverage consumed, and you’ll be fine.” Stick to 1-2 alcoholic beverages during a night out, and also consume at least 60 oz. of water each day to help your body cleanse the system.
Be honest with yourself. Having trouble sticking to your plans when it comes to drinking? That could be a sign of something more serious at play. For more on the Chinese Medicine perspective of how alcohol affects the body, check out “Bottoms Up” which discusses heat and fluid retention in the body after consuming alcohol.
Alcohol, Acupuncture, and Chinese Herbal Medicine
In general, it is not recommended to consume alcohol prior to or immediately following acupuncture treatments.
Acupuncture elicits an immune response that helps to increase blood flow to areas of the body that require healing. Conversely, alcohol is a diuretic that can lead to dehydration and lower blood volume. For healing purposes, it is necessary to be well hydrated during acupuncture treatments so there is plenty of blood and lymph fluids to facilitate healing and detoxification. Also note: Alcohol is a neurotoxin which can work against the body in any healing process—related to acupuncture or not.
Drinking before treatment is also harmful because alcohol can be a vasodilator—it makes the peripheral blood vessels relax to allow more blood flow through the skin and tissues, which results in a drop in blood pressure. Acupuncture also can lower blood pressure, and the combination of the two can be harmful, as it may lead to dizziness and/or fainting post treatment.
In general, it is not recommended to combine Traditional Chinese Medicine herbs with alcohol consumption. Similar to traditional medications, there are certain Chinese herbs that can become toxic when combined with alcohol. If a practitioner has recommended an herbal formula for you, it is designed to be a temporary method to boost your body’s return to health and balance. Ideally, you will be able to give yourself room to heal by abstaining from alcohol consumption during this time.
The purpose of herbal formulas are to strengthen the body’s immune system so it can self-heal. Alcohol is an immune suppressant, so alcohol consumption can counteract some of the beneficial effects of the herbal formula. If you are truly committed to the healing process you started, then lay off the booze for the duration of your treatment.
If you struggle with abstaining from alcohol, then it may be time to look internally and possibly seek help from your acupuncturist, therapist, or other health care practitioner to understand the root cause and address it.
Schedule an acupuncture treatment with us today.