Along with many other women, I’m participating in Dry January this month, which means no alcohol. By starting the year with 31 days of no drinking, 70% of participants drink less overall for the entire year and take better care of their health. I’m going to make an educated guess that women who are participating in Dry January will also have better menstrual cycles than they did the month before! This is because your liver has to metabolise estrogen, and if it’s preoccupied with alcohol, excess sugar, and even caffeine, your estrogen can get reabsorbed into the body instead of excreted. When this happens, your estrogen and progesterone will not be properly balanced, causing hormonal imbalance symptoms like mood swings, headaches, acne, bloating, tender breasts, and more. Your hormones take a full cycle to reset, so going a full month will really give you a great chance to feel more healthy and balanced! I have way more information on all the effects of alcohol on your hormones, as well as how to navigate supporting your hormonal health & drinking here. This is super valuable information, so go check it out! In the meantime, here’s the Mocktail Mule I’m sipping on. Make this as an alternative to alcohol the next time you want a drink: Ingredients: Ginger beer
Sparkling water
Lime juice
Mint
Recipe:
Fill a copper mug or cocktail glass with half ginger beer and half sparkling water over ice.
Squeeze in lime juice generously.
Add in a few mint leaves. Break them up or give them a good spank to wake up the flavor!
Garnish with lime wedge & more mint, then enjoy!
