FOUR healthy alternatives to “dry January”

Rather than living the start of the year as sober as a judge, you might want to employ your marine-like self discipline on the following alternative lifestyle changes, which offer strong health benefits.

1. Temporary carbohydrate abstinence

By exercising to lower carbohydrates stored in the body and by limiting the amount of carbs you ingest, you can effectively teach your body to “shift” it’s fuel source from Saturday’s carb-heavy pizza to the fat on your waistline.

Importantly, this doesn’t mean you should vow a carb should never pass your lips. It just means that once a week or once a fortnight, possibly after attacking a chunk of chips or bowl of ice cream, a low carb day coupled with a visit to the gym can do you the world of good.

2. Sleep indulgence

Sleep aids the production of rejuvenating hormones like the Growth Hormone, helps refortify our immune system and even replenishes the critical neurotransmitters of the brain that keep us happy and motivated.

3. Juicing ban

Despite being full of vitamins and minerals, an increasing body of evidence suggests that juices could be nutrition’s new evil. It’s not the fruit that is the problem, but rather the juicing method that leaves you with a cup of sugar-ridden calories.

Try to eat an orange rather than drink a glass of orange juice every day for a month. It won’t test your willpower as much as giving up booze, but it will give your body a timely boost for the new year.

4. Eat your greens

It’s easier to add something to your diet than to subtract a substance that you’re used to consuming. So why not simply spend a month (or more) trying to add an extra handful of greens to your evening dinner?

Take the humble broccoli. It isn’t as sexy as, say, the latest superfood berry from Brazil, but scientists from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, USA, have found the allotment-dwelling vegetable is incredibly high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.