When I first got the idea to examine my drinking, I devoured all of the available resources to help motivate me. One of the most life changing resources I came across was the book This Naked Mind by Annie Grace. This book explains some of the neuroscience of alcohol’s effect on the body, and one of the most mind blowing things I learned was that it takes 10 days for the effects of alcohol to completely leave the body.

10 days!! So even when I managed to take weekday breaks (at most 4 days) I still wasn’t even coming close to being completely free from the effects of alcohol.

While it is true that it takes 1 hour for each standard unit of alcohol to be processed by the liver and exit your bloodstream (the buzzed/ sober effect of alcohol you are probably familiar with), that’s not what I’m talking about here.

Alcohol is also affecting the levels of various hormones and neurotransmitters that have an effect on your brain and cravings. The first drink, or even just the process of preparing your first drink (CRAZY!) releases endorphins that make you feel good. But in reality, alcohol is a nervous system depressant and when you drink alcohol your body also starts to release excess stimulants to try to counteract these depressing effects. So basically the net effect of drinking alcohol is anxiety, and we are conditioned to turn to alcohol to relax from that anxiety. As these chemicals build up or exit the body, you will either want to chase that euphoria or try to correct the anxiety and depression that the effect of alcohol leaving the body has created in your brain.

But here’s the thing. You are trying to solve the problem that the alcohol itself has created. What a vicious cycle!

It takes up to 10 days for your brain to stop producing these excess stimulants and for your hormone levels to begin to rebalance.

So my takeaway from this information was that the first thing I needed to do to get some clarity on my actual life situation was to take at least a 10 day break from alcohol so I could truly see how I felt without it.

If you’ve been thinking about taking a break, I encourage you to sign up for my 10 Day Reset. I run this free program a few times each year, and the next one will be offered in the spring (probably late March, 2023). You can get on the wait list now by clicking HERE.

And now I’d love to hear from you! Have you tried taking a break from alcohol? What did you learn from the experience? Share your takeaways below.