Drinkaware research has found people who haven’t tried low alcohol or alcohol-free drinks are more likely to have negative perceptions of their taste than people who do drink them. 5

Low alcohol and alcohol-free drinks can be a great way of cutting down on the amount you of drink at home or pacing yourself on a night out, helping to avoid the short-term effects of drinking too much. While these symptoms are bothersome and even unpleasant, you’ll be able to manage most of them by yourself. Basic self-care will go a long way to support your wellbeing in the early days. Stay hydrated, eat well, take painkillers, and get some sleep. But if you are worried, your symptoms don’t improve, or you experience seizures, fits, hallucinations, confusion or poor coordination, you must talk to your doctor. More severe withdrawal symptoms are relatively rare, but they can be serious. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ So the first 3 or 4 days without drinking might be pretty uncomfortable. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms vary, but symptoms will typically appear about six to twelve hours after your last drink. And they will tend to be worst after day 2 or 3. Milder withdrawal symptoms include sweating, shakes, headaches, and nausea, and you might have problems eating or sleeping. You may also feel anxious, irritable or agitated. Low alcohol’ drinks contain 1.2% alcohol (ABV) or less. ‘ Alcohol-free’ drinks are 0.5% ABV or less, with many following government guidance in England to contain 0.05% ABV or less. 2 Day 4 is the crunch point for many people. You might feel suddenly better, decide you were over-reacting and have a drink. Or your withdrawal symptoms might be peaking, so you reach for a drink to control them. If you need to reach out for support, for example, to the Club Soda community, do what you need to get through it.

More and more people are cutting down by using alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks. In fact, figures from 2021 show one in five UK adults used alcohol-free drinks as a way of moderating their alcohol consumption. 3 Although some situations can feel awkward the first time you do them alcohol-free, keeping up your normal routine will help pinpoint problem areas in your drinking habits. Don’t change anything else, except what you drink. There is an incredible range of alcohol-free drinks ( anything 0.5% ABV or below) available in pubs, supermarkets and online, including alcohol-free beers, wines and spirits. So you can find something better than a children’s soft drink. You may find your eating patterns change as well. Sugar cravings are common in the early days, and you are likely to notice that you feel hungry at different times of the day. Alcohol comes with a lot of empty calories, and your body will notice the difference. You’re unlikely to lose weight in just a week, but you are going to feel good about yourself. These days, there are more, better tasting, low alcohol drinks to choose from than ever before. Drinkaware research has found regular drinkers of low alcohol products thought the taste had improved over recent years. Negative perceptions of taste were more common amongst people who hadn’t tried them, with many people pleasantly surprised with the taste when they did. 4Many people find that their sleep improves after 7 days without alcohol. Alcohol can send you to sleep, but it wakes you up early. So after a week without booze, you may find yourself sleeping more deeply and dreaming more. Time away from drinking can be the starting point for changing your drinking for good, whether you are thinking about cutting down or stopping completely. Even if you plan to moderate your alcohol consumption in the longer term, taking regular breaks from drinking is good for you. And the longer the break, the better you will feel. Honestly, this is a mistake. In a week, you will encounter many of the situations in which you’d normally drink. So you can use your 7 days without alcohol to notice your triggers for drinking. If you’ve been a regular drinker for some time, you may experience some withdrawal symptoms when you stop. That’s because you’ve got used to having a certain level of alcohol in your system, and your body takes some time to catch up when you stop.

Many people who drink low alcohol and alcohol-free, choose them as a practical choice – for example when they need to drive in the morning, or simply because they have a lot on the next day. 6

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But do mark this moment in some way. You’ve done a good thing for yourself, and you deserve to celebrate your week without alcohol. You will have saved some money too, so maybe treat yourself to a bunch of flowers or a nice meal. Pinpointing problems with your drinking habits

And some people find they can be a good way of being supportive. Our recent research found around one in six parents (16%) drank alcohol-free or low alcohol products to support their partner while they were pregnant. 7 Getting into the habit of drinking fewer standard alcoholic drinks and replacing them with alcohol-free or low alcohol alternatives can form part of a sustainable approach to cutting down on alcohol in the longer-term. 1 If you take this approach, you can use your alcohol-free week to notice when it’s easy not to drink and when it feels hard. How does not drinking affect your relationships, your moods and your routine? Most people can grin and bear it through 7 days without alcohol. So it can be tempting to get through your week by simply hitting the pause button on life.

It’ll encourage you to do more with your spare time

After a week without alcohol, you may find that you have a lot more energy. After the sluggishness and discomfort at the beginning of the week, suddenly, you wake up full of beans. You may notice your face is less puffy too, and your eyes might seem brighter.