Do You Really Need That Glass of Wine?

Blood orange lemonade with ice and thyme on light gray concrete background. Credit: Azurita via Getty Images.

Black Americans are using Dry January as an annual health reset and are rethinking their relationship with alcohol. Here’s what they say.

By Anissa Durham

With deadly wildfires burning entire neighborhoods in Los Angeles, the Israel-Hamas war raging on, and the Trump administration doing everything from terminating federal DEI programs to conducting ICE raids at schools — you might think Americans would be reaching for the bottle more than ever. Instead, millions of them are doing exactly the opposite.

That’s because they’ve committed to Dry January, a challenge to stay sober for the first 31 days of the year. In 2024, a quarter of Americans participated in Dry January, choosing sparkling water over spirits, not just to reset their livers, but to rethink their entire relationship with alcohol.

“I was very comfortable with leisure drinking, and I didn’t like that,” says Santierra Hutson, a 28-year-old D.C. resident who turned her Dry January into a 90-day sobriety journey.

This is her fourth year doing Dry January. For her, it started during those isolated pandemic days when a glass of wine became less of a treat and more of a habit.

“I don’t regret it,” she says. “When I initially stopped drinking … it was really hard. But then I had to find alternative ways to curb that craving.”

Hutson says naturally, she’s more reserved, but alcohol helps her come out of her shell. Now, she makes it a goal to work through her social anxiety without relying on alcohol. Since spending three months or more out of the year sober, Hutson has seen a dramatic shift in her health, including weight loss and a better mood. To fill the role alcohol was playing in her life, she started to meditate, journal, and exercise – which has given her mental and physical clarity.

Paige Booker, 34, decided to participate in her first Dry January when her best friend suggested they take the challenge together. After the two realized they weren’t getting the same enjoyment from drinking alcohol anymore. Dealing with headaches and upset stomachs, even after only a glass or two of alcohol, was also a deciding factor.

“Alcoholism runs on one side of my family, and I experienced a death in my family in 2019. And I started drinking more,” Booker says. “But once I realized it, I cut off drinking at home in 2020.”

**Paige Booker photographed in her San Diego home.** CRYSTAL MILNER/STAT

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, African Americans are less likely to deal with alcohol use disorders than white, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations. But Black folks are more likely to deal with ongoing problems related to alcohol dependence. For example, the American Addiction Center states that “the rate of recurrent alcoholism among Black Americans is 35.4%, versus 33% among Hispanic Americans and 22.8% among whites.”

The San Diego resident hasn’t put any specific restrictions on her alcohol consumption but instead wants to be more mindful of when she drinks. Booker says she’s more comfortable not drinking in social settings and would participate in Dry January again.

Does Alcohol Benefit Your Health?

Dr. Vivek Murthy, the former U.S. surgeon general, released an advisory on Jan 3. highlighting the link between alcohol use of any kind — wine, spirits, or beer and increased risk of cancer. Studies continue to show that alcohol consumption, anything ranging from one-to-six or more drinks a day, increases the risk of seven different types of cancer: breast, colorectum, esophagus, liver, mouth, throat, and voice box.

The advisory explains how alcohol causes cancer. Your body breaks down acetaldehyde, a toxic chemical in alcohol, which then damages DNA and makes it more difficult to heal. Alcohol can also alter estrogen levels and other hormones that increase the likelihood of developing cancer.

Women are more likely to develop cancer due to alcohol consumption of two drinks a day than men. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, breast cancer is often diagnosed at later stages and is more aggressive for African American women.

But it’s not just cancer folks have to worry about.

Adesola Oje, a gastroenterology fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, says she’s seen patients who overconsume alcohol deal with anemia, diarrhea, sleep issues, and cirrhosis of the liver. But she does say alcohol in moderation is fine. According to the CDC, moderate drinking means two drinks or less in a day for men and one drink or less in a day for women.

So, the question becomes, is alcohol actually beneficial to your health?

Oje says not exactly. Alcohol technically doesn’t benefit the body the way water does. But moderate alcohol consumption can provide short-term stress relief and lessen feelings of anxiety.

A moderate drinker herself, Oje is supportive of those who participate in Dry January or any effort to reduce alcohol consumption.

“I absolutely love it. I think the beginning of every year is an opportunity to set the tone for how you want the rest of the year to go,” she says. “As someone that often takes care of folks from alcohol-related liver issues … I think it’s great that people are taking the opportunity to see if they can completely cut off alcohol.”

To Drink or Not to Drink

Yanique Figuereo just celebrated her 40th birthday on Jan. 26. This year marks her first time participating in Dry January. Even starting a few days shy of the new year, she was determined to start 2025 without alcohol.

While she intended not to drink in January, on her birthday flight to Hawaii, flight attendants gave her three free rum sunrise drinks to celebrate. The San Diego resident says she’s being a lot more intentional about what she puts into her body as she gets older. In recent years, she’s reduced her alcohol consumption from every other day to just on the weekends to only on Saturday nights.

Figuereo says she is healthy but wants to be mindful about what she consumes. She has a few words of advice for others who are considering reducing their alcohol consumption.

“The only advice I can give is to slowly cut down on what you intake in your body,” she says. “My generation is just getting bad to worse. I feel that wholeheartedly what you put in your body can affect your mental health. You are what you eat (and drink.)”

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