The 10 benefits of taking a break

Are you taking an alcohol break? How good and healthy of you. Are you still in doubt? After reading these 10 benefits, I probably won't anymore. Because thanks to an alcohol break you will have more energy, you will probably sleep better and you will feel mentally fitter.

1. Awareness

That glass at the end of a long day, after sports, during a pleasant evening on the couch; some drinks have become such a habit that you don't even think about them anymore. By temporarily eliminating all alcoholic drinks, you notice the role alcohol plays in your life. This realization helps you to make a more conscious choice in the period after IkPas: do I have an alcoholic drink or not.

2. Structurally less alcohol

Not drinking alcohol for a month or 40 days will not only provide you with immediate healthy benefits, it will also affect your long-term alcohol consumption. For example, six months later, IkPas participants drink an average of 30% less alcohol than before their IkPas period!

3. More energy

Not drinking alcohol is one of the best gifts you can give your body. You will feel fitter and more energetic, because no more energy is lost for your body to get rid of a toxic substance: alcohol. Stopping drinking alcohol is better for your liver - the organ that has to break down all alcohol -, your heart and your blood pressure. There is a good chance that you will see evidence of your improved physical condition in your sports performance. But your outside also improves. An important effect of alcohol is that it widens your blood vessels. This causes more blood to flow through the blood vessels, resulting in redder or swollen skin. When you stop drinking alcohol, the blood vessels slowly narrow again and your skin regains its normal, healthy complexion.

4. Sleep well, wake up rested

Contrary to what is claimed about taking a 'nightcap', drinking alcohol does not help you sleep better. You fall asleep faster, but the sleep itself is less deep. Alcohol also affects your REM sleep. This is the part of your sleep where you dream, your muscles relax and your brain processes all the information and emotions of the day. Alcohol suppresses your REM sleep, so that you recover less well at night. You also feel more rested physically if you do not drink alcohol before going to sleep. By not drinking, you sleep better and you start the day rested and full of energy!

5. Mentally fitter

About 63% of the IkPas participants indicate that they feel mentally fitter. Not drinking ensures that you can concentrate better, are sharper and feel better about yourself. Alcohol has a negative influence on the serotonin level in your body. Serotonin, also called the happiness hormone, helps regulate your mood and ensures a healthy sleep pattern. Moreover, stopping drinking alcohol gives your self-confidence a positive boost. After all, you are mentally strong enough to pass!

6. Learn to say 'NO'

Your participation in IkPas makes 'saying no' a lot easier: 'No thank you, no alcohol for me, I'm taking an alcohol break'. So you don't have to go to any lengths to avoid drinking alcohol. Under the guise of your participation in this break, you can refuse all alcohol during this period undisturbed.

7. Good example leads to good follow

You have more influence on your child's (later) alcohol use than you may think. Your child mainly learns by doing what you do. If your child sees you drinking a glass of wine with dinner every night, it is more likely that they consider drinking alcohol to be normal. Research shows that children think more positively about alcohol when their parents drink. Children with a positive attitude towards drinking drink more on average than other children. By -temporarily- not drinking alcohol yourself, you are telling your child that drinking alcohol is not automatically part of it, but is always a conscious choice. Young people of the age that they are allowed to drink alcohol themselves are also sensitive to this.

8. Breaking habitual behavior

An alcohol break of 30 to 40 days will help you break your habitual behavior and start creating new ones. This way you actively work with IkPas on a lasting change in your lifestyle. Curious about how to replace old habits with new ones? read here how psychotherapist Carien Karsten replaced the longing for her regular wine with a new tasty ritual.

9. Hello buddy less

A nice side effect of stopping drinking alcohol is that you can lose weight. For example, 32% of the IkPas participants indicates that they have lost weight during the challenge. Read why you lose weight by giving up alcohol in 'Losing weight and alcohol'.

10. You save money

Those few specialty beers or that bottle of wine with the weekly groceries really add up. An alcohol break saves you a lot of money. A simple calculation example shows that not drinking alcohol is a real savings factor. Suppose you buy two bottles of wine every week for 5 euros per bottle. In that case you spend about €40 in a month. On an annual basis this is even €520. And then we don't even count the terraces, evenings out for dinner or going out. Not drinking gives you a nice bonus.

Encore: no hangovers

IkPas creates more awareness, so you are less likely to drink (too much) alcohol afterwards. Never again (too much) drinking also means: no longer having a hangover. This quickly reduces the number of mornings you wake up with a bursting headache and a protesting stomach to zero! Think of all the time you gain with this and in which you can now do something fresh and fruity. Yes!