Brian Lehr: To end our show today, for our last 15 minutes, we turn to Dry January. That's the sobriety challenge to abstain from alcohol for this whole month that many people are undertaking. Now that we're halfway through Dry January, we're opening up the phones for any of you who are participating to call in and say how it's going. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692 or you can text that number at the top of the show. I said we're going to start and end the program today on the topic of alcohol.

We heard back at ten o'clock from US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy about his recent report that says alcohol is a leading preventable cause of cancer. The report even calls for alcoholic beverages to carry a warning label. Congress would have to enact that. If you missed that conversation, go back and take a listen on the WNYC website or app or your favorite podcast platform. Here's one very short bite that might set up your Dry January calls.

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy: Many of us, myself included when I was in medical training about 25 years ago, were taught that, hey, drinking may be good for your health as long as you drink around one or two drinks a day or less. It turns out that is a lot more complicated than we had thought.

Brian Lehr: There was Surgeon General Murthy earlier in the show. The report that was published this month, likely after you made the pledge to abstain from alcohol came out and a lot of people are talking about it and I wonder, has that had any impact on your choice to participate in Dry January? Maybe at least it has steeled your resolve. Maybe you already knew generally how alcohol can negatively affect your body, but this report has extra significance to you. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692 if you're doing Dry January, how's it going?

What made you decide to do it this year? 212-433-9692 and maybe even today on day 16, you've already noticed some benefits. Washington Post reports that participants of Dry January, "have found that better sleep is consistently one of the most common benefits that people experience" from the Washington Post. Saving money is right up there as the other top benefit that people report. They say, "Notice how suddenly a dinner out is much less expensive. Maybe that's good." What are you noticing that you like or that's been difficult?

212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692 maybe you've been in a tricky social situation and want to talk about how that went in order to help other people doing Dry January get through those. 212-433-9692. Name a benefit if you see a benefit, name a tricky social situation if you've been in one. 212-433-WNYC and as your calls are coming in, I'll mention that in last week's edition of the Brian Lehr Show Newsletter, we invited readers participating in Dry January to submit a few reasons and how it's going. Here's just a little sampling.

Debyn Glen Cove wrote, "I decided that this is going to be my year of self-care. After having some terribly sad things happen in my life, I turned to self-sabotage. In order to stop that cycle, I decided that I would stop taking things that hurt me out on myself. As we know, hurt people, hurt people and I was really only hurting myself." William from Brooklyn wrote, "I am limiting alcohol to the weekends, so dry-ish. During the pandemic, my wife and I started having cocktails each evening. I want to drop that habit. A big motivation is that alcohol is high in calories and I want to lose a few pounds."

One more, Brad from New Rochelle wrote, "It's been difficult so far." He writes, "I have several bottles of Sancerre. Is that how you say it? Left from the holiday that are hard to ignore. Sometimes I just want to sit by the fire with a scotch. As of today, January 9th, I am still on the wagon. Ugh," he wrote. Listeners participating in Dry January, how's it going? What's the hardest part? Why are you doing it? What's the benefit? Help others who are doing it get through the rest of the month at least.

Even if you're doing dry-ish like that one respondent, they say that's-- there's no rule against doing it that way, cutting down instead of totally abstaining. We'll take your calls right after this.

[MUSIC- Marden Hill- Hijack]

Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to some of your Dry January calls. Laura in Westchester, you're on WNYC. Hi, Laura.

Laura: Hi, Brian. How are you?

Brian Lehr: Good. What you got?

Laura: I am definitely doing Dry January. I do it most years. I get great sleep. I feel better. I also cut out sugar because I bake so much during Christmas and that really, really helps. It's like no sugar from alcohol, no sugar from cakes or cookies or other bits and pieces. I feel Great. It's actually going to lead into my other favorite thing, which is self-care February, where I go to get massage and maybe my nails done and a body scrub and things that make me feel really great in the dark and the cold of the winter.

Brian Lehr: Nice. Thank you, Laura. Perry in South Orange, you're on WNYC. Hi, Perry.

Perry: Hi there. Thanks for taking my call. I just want to piggyback on the previous caller. I'm a cancer survivor myself of many years and about 10 or 12 years ago, my nutritionists said that the key to preventing further cancer was to reduce inflammation and the key to that was to drop sugar. Because of the sugar content in alcohol, they suggested as little as possible along with the baking and the other sugars. I'm just agreeing with the previous caller and I'm glad to hear that it's official now because I think those of us who carry diseases of inflammation really already know that sugar is the bad guy.

Brian Lehr: Perry, thank you very much. Here's a listener who wrote in, in a text message about doing 2/3 of a Dry January. Listener writes, "I'm doing Dry January again and it's been a great reset. Feels easier this year than previous. Decided this year to end it on Sunday because I can't do a Trump presidency sober." That's a short-term Dry January participant. I think Katie in Brooklyn is a much longer-term one. Katie, you're WNYC. Hi there.

Katie: Hi. Thanks, Brian. Before Dry January was actually a trend, I ended up stopping drinking in 2013. It was January 2013, so it'll be 12 years that I haven't had a drink.

Brian Lehr: You said it was before Dry January was a thing if it goes back to 2013, but for you, was it first, "Well, I'm going to stop for a few weeks," and then it became permanent?

Katie: Yes, pretty much. I live in New York and I lived in New York my whole life. I love to party, love to go out and I realized it was time for a change and it became a lifestyle. I took up cycling. I'm much, much, much healthier. I don't get sick as much. Life is definitely better.

Brian Lehr: Katie, thank you very much. I think Nicole in Greenpoint might have had one of those sticky social situations. Nicole, you're on WNYC. Hi.

Nicole: Hi, Brian. To piggyback on the piggyback, I had to quit drinking last year due to a cancer diagnosis. Everything is totally fine, by the way. My doctor was like, "You know what, if you need to have a drink, you can have a drink every once in a while." I was out at Union Pool last night seeing some bands play and I felt bad because everyone's doing Dry January, so I ordered a beer, I enjoyed my beer and I tipped my bartender. Everyone that is going out drinking your seltzers for $2, please tip your bartenders as if you were drinking because I'm a former bartender and January sucks.

Brian Lehr: You ordered a beer, though, and not a seltzer, but you just didn't drink it and then you left a tip.

Nicole: Oh, I absolutely drank it. It was delicious.

Brian Lehr: Oh, you drank it. Nicole, thank you very much. The moderation once in a while. Model. Listener writes, "Benefit of damp January. Better sleep, weight loss, more energy, better appetite control." David in Manhattan is also calling in using that term, damp January. Hi, David. What's that for you?

[00:09:18] David: Hi, Brian. I normally don't do Dry January. My daughter has done it for years and I've never done it only because I thought it was a form of deprivation and we deprive ourselves of so many things. I really enjoy wine and beer. I've been an enthusiast of wine for many, many years, but I really welcomed the Surgeon General's comments. It's affected the way that I'm drinking, so I am doing a damp January, going really well. Like some of the other callers, I do find that my sleep does improve.

I've really turned to some of the more non-alcoholic options because they-- especially with beer, they really do scratch that itch in terms of taste and you don't get any of the alcohol. Really welcome the Surgeon General's comments, and I'm glad you had them on this morning.

Brian Lehr: David, thank you very much. I have a friend too who likes a certain brand of non-alcoholic beer, no alcohol, and says the taste is really good. In case that helps anybody out there, there's that. One more. Lisa in Chelsie, you're on WNYC. Hi, Lisa.

Lisa: Hi, Brian. I will echo what everyone else has been saying about how great they feel doing this. I'm having a very successful first few weeks of Dry January, but I actually did have an unexpected benefit as well. I'm a lawyer and just happen to be working on a deal career defining that is really, I'm embarrassed to say, 24/7 for me. I've actually had a couple situations in the last little while where I've been called to get on the phone after dinner. If I had had two, three glasses of wine like I was in December, I just could not be effective on those calls. I'm just so much more-

Brian Lehr: Interesting.

Lisa: -protective of my company.

Brian Lehr: In 10 seconds, does this make you want to do this permanently or you're going to dry out in January and then you're going to go back?

Lisa: A, I would love to do it permanently, and B, I also think I need to change jobs.

Brian Lehr: Lisa, there you go. Maybe that's going to be our next call in, who needs to change jobs and why, and how do you become aware of it? Anyway, thanks for your Dry January calls today. Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Hopefully, those were helpful for other people out there considering or struggling with it. Stay tuned for Alison.

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