If you're trying to cut back on booze but "Dry January" is too challenging, one TikTok trend is encouraging you to consider an easier alternative with similar benefits.
The "One Week No Booze" trend, started by TikToker Bridget Stangland, involves cutting out alcohol one week each month, and the benefits – a total of three months' worth of no drinking when added together – accumulate over time while still allowing you to enjoy alcohol less often, but one expert told Fox News Digital the trend isn't without its setbacks.
"I would say that human nature is to go, 'I know this is my last drink. I'm about to start my week off,' so probably, on Sunday night, I'm going to get really drunk and, as soon as my week is over, I'm going to start drinking more to make up because [like] when you do it with fad diets…" Ricardo Santiago, director at Diamond Behavioral Health based in Florida, said.
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He compared the trend to intermittent fasting, the diet trend that focuses on abstaining from food for a majority of the day but eating within a brief, hours-long window.
"If it's not impacting your relationship with drinking, then you're doing something that's just as bad, and it sounds great on paper, but it's not actually leading you to turn from it and have the actual health benefits. Of course, it's better to not drink for a week, than to drink for that week, but, if we're going to use it as some kind of way to trick our mind into thinking that we're being healthier, and then we hope that we have a more controlled relationship with alcohol, or we're making a really big impact on our health, I think that might be dangerous practice."
Stangland, in a TikTok video from December, said those partaking in the challenge can even choose to double the challenge's length each month and cut out drinking for two weeks, totaling six months without alcohol at the end of the year.
She added that her own attempt at the challenge reaped some personal benefits, including improved sleep, reduced brain fog, and better skin appearance.
"I started this because I realized, as I was getting older, there were still so many occasions where alcohol was involved, and I realized it doesn't serve me to have it all the time, and I like taking breaks. I feel amazing when I take breaks," she said.
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"Why not create a small change that creates this major impact?"
Stangland said she also noticed, in her twenties, that drinking tended to be a very "black or white" habit, with people either drinking none or drinking heavily and, with the approach to moderation, cutting out booze one week every month allows people to observe how much better they feel and "chase that feeling."
To be clear, however, she says the method is not for those suffering from substance abuse, something Santiago echoed as well.
"It really is not a method to quit drinking if you are an alcoholic. It's a dangerous practice, if you're an alcoholic thinking, 'If I can take a week off, I don't have a real problem.' Obviously, [you'd be] walking around with a sense of a false confidence…"
He also encouraged people who are partaking in the TikTok trend to use the week off to reconsider why they're drinking in the first place, and what the benefits of quitting are.
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"If you're not using it to be mindful about your drinking and to realize what it is, then you're going to mindlessly continue to abuse that behavior," he said.
From a social regard, Santiago said it's also important to consider whether your social circle is too invested in alcohol and could be promoting bad habits. Noticing withdrawal symptoms – including frequent hangovers – is another concerning sign that you could be addicted to drinking.
The craze around the trend indicates it could be a more digestible alternative for some compared to the "Dry January" trend, which encourages those who want to cut back to do so by omitting booze from their life altogether for 31 days.
"Dry January" has made headlines every new year for a long time, garnering attention from some experts who say it can improve health as well.
A study published in the journal of Psychology & Health in 2020, for example, found that "Dry January" has been associated with an increased sense of well-being and general self-efficacy, while alcohol, meanwhile, has remained the subject of multiple warnings from health and addiction experts, including those who say drinking can increase the risk of certain cancers, wreak havoc on gut health or spell disaster for your liver.
Daryl Appleton, a psychotherapist who practices in NYC and New England, echoed some concerns from Santiago, previously telling Fox News that, despite the positives of cutting out drinking, for those suffering from addiction, quitting cold turkey for a month-long haul can be harmful.
"On the not-so-healthy side, if someone has an alcohol use disorder, obviously stopping cold can lead to severe withdrawals, seizures and even death," Appleton said, additionally warning that those partaking in the no-drinking challenges must have good intentions to continue good habits for a lasting effect on their health.
Fox News' Amy McGorry and Maeghan Dolph contributed to this report.
