For many, Dry January offers a brief respite from post-Christmas drinking, before we gratefully reach for a large G&T on February 1st.

Our tired livers get a rest and we think about how strange it would be if this booze-free lifestyle became permanent.

Unfathomable, we muse. But imagine if you had never had a drink in your entire life?

Ellie Nash, 23, is one such teetotaler. Not a sip of alcohol has ever passed her lips – not at teen parties, birthdays or even the famous drunken college years.

“People think I've had a bad experience with alcohol,” says Ellie. 'But I'm not curious. I've never had the urge. Besides, I assume it tastes like it smells – bitter and chemical.”

It's a choice that will leave most of us who see alcohol as an integral part of social life somewhat baffled. Especially since young people are traditionally the heaviest drinkers of all.

Yet it seems that today's young people are turning their backs on their parents' alcohol-friendly attitudes and taking a more puritanical approach.

A survey by industry organization The Portman Group this month showed that as many as 39 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 24 do not drink. And research published in the International Journal of Drug Policy claims that 'the decline in alcohol consumption among young people is well established and unlikely to be reversed'.

Why do Generation Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – have such different attitudes towards their parents?

A new study from Alcohol Change UK shows that 'hangxiety' (feeling anxious during a hangover) plays a major role, with more than a third of under-34s blaming it for their decision to cut back on drinking. Research for Google also showed that 60 percent of Generation Z associate alcohol with loss of control.

And while many of us may have wholeheartedly embraced that loss of control, for the younger generation it brings a new risk: going viral on social media. After all, today's drunken antics can be uploaded to TikTok with just a few clicks.

One of these videos, tagged #drunk, shows a girl at a nightclub trying to order four shots of sambuca from the DJ booth, unaware that she is not actually standing at the bar. It has 6.4 million views and continues to grow. Another, documenting a young woman falling backwards after a wedding, has been viewed 2.7 million times.

So it's perhaps no surprise that almost half of Generation Z say they always think about their online image when they socialize and drink, according to a survey by the Alcohol Education Trust.

It is a powerful deterrent. “If you stumbled on the street, it was online in two seconds,” says Ellie. 'I would hate that. I always think about what it would look like for an employer.”

Millie Gooch, founder of Sober Girl Society, an organization for sober and sober-curious women with 215,000 followers on social media, says she is not at all surprised by the latest statistics.

'When I started organizing meetings I was 26 and everyone was my age,' says Millie, 32, who gave up alcohol after heavy drinking left her in an 'anxious pit of shame'. 'Now there are also girls aged 18 and 19. The tide has turned. To be honest, alcohol is seen as a bit uncool.”

Millie, a former fashion journalist and PR, sees a mix of professionals and students at her events. Some, like Ellie, have never drank before. Others, like herself, are reformed “party girls” who “blacked out and put themselves in vulnerable situations.”

Many young teetotalers see themselves rebelling against their Generation X parents, who “come from the ladette-drinking generation of the 1990s,” Millie explains. “They've seen the negativity and don't want to follow in their footsteps.”

Millie started drinking heavily at university, where she would drink triple vodkas with Red Bull for just £1.50 at cheap student deals. (“You could get two in a pint glass.”)

After graduating, she worked in PR and moved into wine and gin. But she soon discovered that there was a dark side to the so-called pleasure.

She once woke up in her room at her parents' house in Kent after a night out in central London, with only vague memories of how she got there.

“I remember riding in an Uber, but to this day I have no idea how I paid for it,” she recalls. 'There were no transactions in my bank account.

'My mother said I was stupid when I came home. She said, “You're being kidnapped.”

Finally, after one too many hangovers, Millie decided enough was enough: 'It was extra difficult because being in your twenties is the best social age, but when people said I would be 'boring' I felt stubborn and wanted to prove that they were wrong.'

Because of course many of Millie and Ellie's peers still drink. What is it like to be young and sober? And is it really worth remembering?

Growing up in rural Norfolk, Ellie's friends started drinking booze scavenged from their parents' cupboards at the age of 16. But looking at the results, she says she wasn't tempted to join them.

'They became overly talkative and giggly. They started dancing and talking more openly about emotions,” she recalls. 'I didn't know what impact it would have on me. Some of it felt scary.”

However, she was hesitant to tell her friends – who were all drinking – about her decision: “I didn't think they would invite me.”

Instead, she pretended to fill the bottle of Coke she brought to parties with liquor before she arrived. She insists no one noticed. “I started mirroring their behavior when they were drinking and telling them I felt drunk,” she says, admitting that she became louder to compensate for her lack of drinking.

When she started studying educational psychology at the University of East Anglia, the confidence alcohol seemed to give her new friends was remarkable.

“Some of them were shy when they were sober, but suddenly they could talk to anyone when they were drinking,” says Ellie.

'It reinforced the idea that I had to make myself confident without drinking, otherwise I would have to rely on it forever – I would never be able to enjoy myself without it again.'

Her self-confidence slowly grew. Often her peers assumed she was as drunk as they were: “One time I was so loud that a friend said, 'There's no way you're coming into the club, you're so drunk.' I replied, “Yes, I will have to sober up.” I thought it was funny.'

However, fear of stigma meant it took her several months to tell her bemused boyfriend of three years, Danny, 24, a purchasing ledger manager, that she didn't drink.

She said: 'I had used the excuse that I had to drive until then, but one night in the pub he finally said, 'Can't you just have one? I don't think I've ever seen you drink.” I blurted out the truth and he was very shocked.”

Recently, however, Ellie has noticed her friends reducing their intake. 'At parties they drink one alcoholic drink and then a coke. I don't think they would have done this a few years ago.”

She believes “SoberTok,” in which young women rave about how much happier, healthier and thinner they are sober, and which has been viewed 1.7 billion times, plays as big a role as the horror of being shown drunk online.

“Not drinking is what I'm most proud of,” she says. 'Living life without relying on alcohol for support has helped my self-confidence grow much faster than when I was drinking.'

Twenty-one-year-old Poppy Clementine is another woman who has always avoided alcohol, which she thinks tastes “very strong and unpleasant.” But in her case, it wasn't the behavior of her peers that deterred her, but that of her elders.

With grandparents who ran restaurants and hotels, she realized as a child that drinking “was what adults did when they were out with friends and family.” This early exposure turned out to be a turn-off: 'I always looked down on it. I don't see why you should have to depend on alcohol to enjoy yourself.'

At fifteen, she went to a party where her peers were drinking: “People were getting sick and falling everywhere. You couldn't have a normal conversation. I hated it. I didn't want it to get completely out of hand.'

Poppy decided not to go to another party during her school years – a decision made easier, she says, because she had no strong friendships to maintain: 'I felt sad, but if I was there, what would I do? doing?'

But since she started studying midwifery at Bournemouth University last year, she has found it harder to avoid the drinking culture.

During Freshers' Week she went to her first nightclub. “Everyone was over everyone,” she said. 'I thought: if I drink, will I feel comfortable?' I was confused.'

Luckily, three of her six dormmates aren't drinkers either, so she pursues a booze-free social life, including sunrise yoga classes and beach walks: “We're going to start painting pottery soon so we can all be involved.”

While some may think it all sounds a bit Saffy from Ab Fab, Poppy insists she's reaping the rewards. 'Others had the first-year flu, but I wasn't in bed with a hangover. I could actually function in my classes,” she says.

“I still find it difficult that many people drink, but it's nice to know that not everyone does, and I think the numbers are promising.”

With the way things are going now, maybe by the time her generation is grandparents, no one will be doing that anymore.

New year, new me – or so the saying goes, and there's no better time to commit to a month without booze. Or is that so?

Dr Alasdair Scott, director of London health service Selph, has called Dry January a 'myth', while adding that you cannot simply 'detox' your body from alcohol in a month.

Dry January is a popular personal challenge where someone abstains from drinking alcohol for a month – often in the hope of negating the effects of a very drunken Christmas.

The medical expert and surgeon compared the trend to a 'crash diet', revealing it had very little health benefit, adding that revelers would be better off reducing their alcohol consumption throughout the year.

Dr. Alasdair also revealed five tips on the best way to reduce your booze intake for the rest of 2024.

Dr Alasdair explained: 'When it comes to the dry January, there is a perception that this is an opportunity to give your liver a 'break' to make up for the excesses of December and the New Year.

'But the reality is that you can't simply reset or detox alcohol's impact on your health in a month.

'It's a bit like a crash diet: you do it for a short period of time and you lose some weight, but it's hard to maintain, so you just go back to what you were doing before and the weight comes back on.

'Although abstaining from alcohol for a month will make you feel much more energetic and help you sleep better, there is little point if you continue to drink heavily after January is over.

'Dry January could be the start of a new lifestyle in which less alcohol is consumed. If that new behavior is maintained, it doesn't even have to be 'dry'.'

However, he said we don't need to go all out and instead promote low alcohol consumption, especially in social settings, as this is “absolutely compatible with a healthy lifestyle.”

He also analyzed the science behind dry January and shared the different ways alcohol can cause irreversible damage to your body.

“Alcohol has negative effects on many organs and tissues throughout your body, such as your gut and brain, not just your liver,” he said.

'Alcohol, for example, increases the risk of colon cancer, breast cancer and dementia.

'The negative effects of alcohol are the result of cumulative exposure, so the more alcohol you drink over a longer period of time, the more likely you are to experience related health problems.'

He continued by warning that there is no such thing as a “safe alcohol level.”

“The risk of health problems increases only gradually, from negligible to low to high,” he concluded.

To help Britons reduce their alcohol consumption by 2024, Dr. Alasdair's top tips:

Drink with your food

Instead of drinking several glasses of wine in front of the television, the expert suggested combining alcohol with a meal.

He said: 'For example, educating yourself about the best wines to pair with certain foods will give you a better understanding and appreciation of the taste of the drink, rather than just the 'feeling' alcohol gives you.

'It also means drinking alcohol less often, as these are usually seen as 'special' treat meals that you don't eat every day.'

Don't drink alcohol every day

While it may seem tempting to open a bottle after a stressful day at work, such consumption habits will negatively impact your health in the long run.

'If you are used to drinking most evenings, it may be a good idea to reduce the number of evenings you drink, for example on Friday and/or Saturday evenings.

'However, it is important that you also monitor the amount of units you drink, as you can easily fall into binge drinking if you drink a large amount of alcohol in a shorter period of time,' says Dr Alasdair.

Opt for one or two small glasses of wine on Friday and Saturday evenings instead of a large glass every day, the expert suggested.

Get moving

It's no news that exercise can improve your health, especially as a supplement to a healthy diet. Dr. Alasdair, however, advised revelers to get active during the weekend as well.

He explained: 'A lot of people drink more on the weekends because they know they don't have to get up in the morning to go to work.

'However, if you book an exercise class for Saturday or Sunday morning, you are less likely to drink the night before because you know you need to wake up feeling refreshed.

'It's a good idea to also book this with a friend, so that you both have some responsibility and can also enjoy exercising together.'

The 20 minute rule

The expert has sworn by this golden rule: taking a short break between drinks.

He said: 'Taking a 20-minute break after consuming one drink before pouring the next can make a big difference to the amount of alcohol you drink.

'Having this time to pause between drinks can help you process whether you really want more, or whether you actually feel tired and like you've had enough.'

He explained that the more breaks between your drinks will inevitably result in less alcohol consumption over the course of the night, and therefore “you automatically drink less this way.”

Welcome to Britain’s longest and gloomiest month, made even more difficult by the phenomenon of Dry January.

According to the charity Alcohol Change UK, around 17 percent of adults will have stopped drinking in the first month of 2023.

But if you’re among the majority who don’t plan on going that route this year, go out of your way and book a boozy, guilt-free vacation.

WINE AND dine in RIOJA

Rioja’s vineyards are home to a number of architect-designed wineries, but the one that stands out is Frank Gehry’s hotel, Marques de Riscal.

The undulating metal roof panels cover 61 luxury rooms, a Michelin-starred restaurant and a vinotherapy spa, where treatments utilize the healing power of the grape. The views are sublime, whether you’re sitting in a barrel bath gazing out at the vineyards, or on the roof terrace looking out over the medieval town of Elciego. There are also daily vineyard tours.

How to do that: Open from February, with B&B doubles from around £447 (marriott.com). Take the car ferry to Bilbao, a 90-minute drive away, with Brittany Ferries from £781, or from Portsmouth to Santander from £772 (brittany-ferries.co.uk).

GET CHEERFUL IN SHERRY

There’s nowhere better to stay in Jerez, the heart of Spain’s sherry industry, than at a hotel owned by the Tio Pepe winery. The boutique hotel in the historic center of the city (jerez means ‘sherry’ in Spanish) was created from a collection of houses where the winery’s employees used to live. It is part of the 200 year old bodega. Pretty patios and gardens are spread between the 27 rooms, some of which overlook the cathedral. For the best views, head to the roof terrace with pool and sherry bar, where you can enjoy a fino or a sherry cocktail as you watch the sunset.

How to do that: B&B doubles from approximately £117 (tiopepe.com). Tour and tasting costs around £18. Ryanair flies to Jerez from the end of March from £78 return or an hour’s drive to Seville (ryanair.com).

THE BOURBON TRAIL

With its 18 world-famous distilleries in and around Lexington and Louisville, and many more craft distilleries, Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail is a great theme for a trip. For a suitable pit stop, head to Log Still Distillery just outside Bardstown, the bourbon capital of the world. Discover the history of the family distillery and taste the corn-based whisky. Accommodations range from a traditional room with a wrought-iron bedstead in the Homestead Cottage, which overlooks the 30-acre lake, to a modern, rustic three-bedroom lodge with a wraparound terrace – the perfect place to enjoy a glass or two .

How to do that: Double rooms with a tour cost approximately £180 (logstilldistillery.com). Fly to Nashville with British Airways, from £508 return, and hire a car (ba.com).

MIX IT LIKE BORDEAUX

Chateau Pape Clement in Bordeaux, named after the man who first planted vines here in the 13th century before becoming pope, is a chic affair. The grand cru classe de graves wines are aged in a huge barrel-filled room, lit by chandeliers, while the grounds are filled with palm trees and cacti. There are just six elegant bedrooms, each fitted with silk wallpaper and rich fabrics. In fact, you can make your own wine by blending cabernet sauvignon and merlot to the desired level before adding cork, foil and your own label – a wine lover’s dream.

How to do that: B&B doubles from around £326, including tour and tasting. Winemaker course about £86 (chateau-pape-clement.fr). You can fly to Bordeaux or take the train, from £170 return (trainline.com).

GIN IS THE THING IN LONDON

If gin is your poison, you can’t go wrong at 186 Portobello Road, also known as The Distillery. The four-storey building in West London is completely dedicated to the spirit, starting with the basement distillery and copper stills. This is where they make their blends, and you can try it out for yourself. But if you’d rather just drink the stuff, there are cocktail bars upstairs. There are also three bedrooms, each with a vintage record player and a selection of vinyl.

How to do that: A room only doubles from £120, while a 90 minute masterclass costs £75pp (the-distillery.london).

PORTO’S WORLD OF PORT

The Yeatman Hotel is themed around the port wine lodges surrounding it in Porto’s Vila Nova de Gaia, from the carafe-shaped outdoor pool to the Wine Spa and even suites with barrel-shaped beds. But it’s been tastefully done, with each of the modern rooms looking out over the Douro River and the warren of houses in the old town. There’s something for everyone: take a quick dip into the world of the harbor at nearby Taylor’s (hotel owner), a guided tasting in Yeatman’s bulging wine cellars or get lost in the World Of Wine museum.

How to do that: B&B doubles from approximately £290 (the-yeatman-hotel.com). An introduction to port wine tasting costs around £43. Fly to Porto with Ryanair from £34 return (ryanair.com).

WINTER SALES FROM THE WINERY

You can get up to 40 percent off selected breaks at Three Choirs Vineyard in Gloucestershire before March 27. When the vine-covered slopes are covered in a cloak of frost, this 75-hectare estate is perhaps at its most beautiful. It is one of England’s oldest vineyards, dating back to 1973. It has eight modern rooms in the main house and three wooden lodges spread among the vineyards. After a winter stroll, return to enjoy tapas-inspired dishes in The Brasserie, with its oak barrels and wooden floors. Whether you prefer still or sparkling, white or red, they make it here, with wine tastings taking place from Wednesday to Friday.

How to do that: Room only doubles from £120. Wine tastings cost £20pp (driekoren-wijngaarden.co.uk).

SPARKLE IN CHAMPAGNELAND

There are numerous small champagne producers in the countryside around Reims and Epernay, some of whom run their own B&Bs. Among them is Le Logis Aux Bulles in the village of Verzy. The three rooms and shared sitting room have the feel of a boutique hotel and feature wine bottles as lighting, champagne photos on the wall – and one even has a champagne riddle as a headboard. A good breakfast will set you up for a day of tastings, starting with a glass of the Mouligneaux-Gourdain grand cru produced by the owners.

How to do that: B&B doubles from approximately £87. Tour and tasting approximately £6 (lelogisauxbulles.com). It is a three-hour drive from the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais.

CIDER RULES IN SOMERSET

At The Newt in Somerset they celebrate apples the same way vineyards celebrate grapes. The extensive estate produces ciders from many of the 70 apple varieties in its 25 hectares of orchards. Take a tour of the Cyder Barn to see the production process and then taste the finished product alongside the dishes in the restaurant. Be sure to try the sourdough made with apple waste. Take walks in the deer park, visit the interactive museum and taste the wine produced at Newt’s sister hotel, Babylonstoren in South Africa. The rooms all include a minibar with Newt’s apple juice and cyder.

How to do that: B&B doubles from £520, including the tour and 12 months access to the estate (thenewtinsomerset.com).

ENJOY A WEE DRAM ON ISLAY

For single malt enthusiasts, Bowmore on the Isle of Islay has six cozy cottages for short breaks next to the traditional distillery on the banks of Loch Indaal.

All have been beautifully renovated, with everything from a one-bedroom hideaway for a romantic getaway to a six-bedroom great room perfect for gathering the clan.

Choose the distillery tour that suits your wallet – whether that’s a simple stone warehouse tour with a barrel tasting for £65, or a rare whiskey tasting for £500.

How to do that: Three nights self-catering in a cottage for four costs from £525 (bowmore.com).

Take the ferry from Kennacraig to Islay for £15pp return (calmac.co.uk) or fly from Glasgow from £130 return (loganair.co.uk).

Tired? Hungover, even? I hope not, but if you are, you’ll likely be motivated even more to make this the month you re-set your relationship with booze.

Yes, it’s dry January, and what better time to take stock of habits you might have drifted into and then change them for the better?

A 31-day alcohol-free challenge can provide a lot of insight. It allows time for your body to re-balance and your brain to gain clarity. But it can be hard, too. Temptation is all around us, and usual routines, such as wine o’clock, can be difficult to shift.

Yet I’ve helped hundreds of clients completely turn around their lives by reshaping their relationship with alcohol. They’ve lost hundreds of pounds, gained new vigour, energy and a general sense of wellness, and eliminated medication for high blood pressure and heartburn. 

And I’ve done it by focusing on something we always overlook when we’re embarking on a month without booze — the role played by food.

I’m a doctor of nutrition who found sobriety in June 2021 and specialises in changing behaviour around alcohol by focusing on diet. 

For the truth is, while it may never have occurred to you before, the way you eat has a direct effect on the way you drink. When, how often and why we reach for a glass of wine — these are all questions that food can answer.

So read on to discover how to eat to change how you drink…

YOUR FIRST STEP…

Before we get down to details, take a moment to answer these questions. They’re all about focusing your mind. Today, the first of the New Year, is the perfect day to do this — then look back at your answers throughout the month for added motivation.

1. How does alcohol make you feel, physically? How does your body react when you drink — both short term and long term? You might note, for example, that even after one or two drinks, you wake up the next day feeling groggy and unmotivated.

2. How does alcohol make you feel emotionally and mentally? Do you get ‘hangxiety’ — the anxiety associated with a hangover that makes you want to stay under the bedclothes for the day? For many, the idea of eliminating this feeling is a big motivation for dry January.

3. How does alcohol affect your goals, whether they’re career-oriented, fitness or for your general well-being, to be a better partner, and so on? Does alcohol prevent you from waking up early to hit the gym or taking a walk before starting your day? Are you trying to stick to a diet but keep having late-night snacks?

4. What are your goals? Write them all down! Do you want to quit your job and start a business? Write a book? Run a marathon? Gain more emotional stability? Next to each goal, write down if alcohol helps or hinders it, and why.

HOW TO BEAT WINE O’CLOCK

By the time 5pm or 6pm rolls around, perhaps after a stressful day at work, or as we begin the second shift with laundry or prep for dinner, many of us are ready to pop open a bottle and pour ourselves a glass. But are we really craving alcohol… or food?

When I ask clients who are usually slaves to wine o’clock what they’ve eaten during the day, they might list a protein bar and a sugar-laden coffee for breakfast, and then something small for lunch, like a salad or sandwich.

By the early evening, their blood sugar has bottomed out.

Not only are they exhausted and stressed by their day, they’re hungry. But because their habitual choice is to open a bottle of wine, they don’t even recognise the hunger signals. Instead, what they think they want is a drink.

The fact is, alcoholic drinks may trigger changes in blood sugar, which in turn often makes us feel energised and elated. However, shortly after, that first drink begins to metabolise through our body and blood sugar then drops.

If you’ve ever experienced low blood sugar, it can feel like being ‘hangry’ and irritable, and often gives us cravings for foods and drinks that quickly raise our blood sugar to a normal level.

It’s a vicious circle, and it can set us up for poor eating habits as well — late-night pizza and midnight ice cream — which, in turn, is the perfect recipe for bad sleep, followed by low energy and imbalanced blood sugar the next day (hence the cravings for indulgent foods during a hangover). Help!

Dry January is the perfect time to re-set and get back to healthier patterns, eating the right foods at the right time. Here are some tips on meal timing for supporting an alcohol-free diet.

• Eat every three to four hours. For you, this might look like four or five small meals throughout the day, or three larger meals and one or two snacks. Avoid going for long stretches of time between eating; this will cause a drop in your blood sugar and increase cravings for alcohol and/or sugar.

• Have breakfast within an hour of waking up. Eating right away jump-starts your morning and helps contribute to more regular blood-sugar patterns throughout the day. Eat protein and a source of fibre-rich carbs, such as avocado on toast, vegetable frittata or a fruit-topped granola.

• Aim to finish eating at least three hours before bedtime. Regulating your blood sugar before going to sleep supports your sleep hormones and eliminates waking up due to blood sugar drops overnight.

• Always have an afternoon snack between 3pm and 5pm.

When trying to go a month without booze, the hours after work and before dinner often test willpower the most. Get ahead of this by scheduling an afternoon snack every day; it’s key to kicking that ‘happy hour’ habit. 

If you address hunger first, you’ll likely notice the craving will subside. See below for my recipe for banana protein balls, which make the perfect snack.

DON’T GIVE UP PUDDING!

Blood sugar takes a dip when we cut out our usual glass of evening wine, but so, too, does dopamine, a ‘feel-good’ hormone released in our brain when we indulge in something pleasurable.

Lower-than-usual levels of dopamine have implications for our sugar consumption, too, because now we need to get that hit from somewhere else. But blood sugar also plays a critical role here, too. Which is why increasing protein and strategic meal timing can help with sugar cravings, too.

It’s why giving up alcohol often leads to a sudden desire for cake, chocolate, ice cream or anything else indulgent and sweet.

Indeed, many people are shocked to find that while they have cravings for alcohol when they cut back, the sugar cravings are actually more extreme and difficult to manage.

You may be wondering if you need to go the whole hog and completely cut sugar out as well. You’re already making a sacrifice — why not double-down?

But that’s not my advice. Eliminating sugar only increases feelings of deprivation and makes it more difficult to stick to our alcohol-free goals. What I do suggest is the strategic use of sugar.

What it means in practice is pairing sweets or carbs with protein. Protein stabilises blood sugar spikes because it takes longer to break down and digest, which blunts the absorption of the sugary food, too.

You might have a sweet treat just after having a protein-rich meal or snack — a pudding, essentially — or to combine them in one. Chocolate protein powder smoothies is a good way to do it.

EAT BEETROOT FOR BREAKFAST

Beetroot is a superstar when it comes to supporting and detoxifying the liver after a season of over-indulgence. But it also aids digestion, balances hormones and even cuts brain fog.

I suggest eating beetroot four or five times a week, specifically at breakfast. It’s great for boosting the flow of oxygen to the brain to start your morning. Try beetroot hummus on toast or a bowl of borscht — yes, even at breakfast — or put it in a smoothie.

. . . AND DANDELIONS FOR DINNER

Dandelions are another fabulous liver food that also help regulate digestion. Buy them online at organic food outlets, or grow your own. Use like rocket and combine with feta, sliced Medjool dates, chopped roasted pistachios and an olive oil, Dijon mustard and honey dressing for a gorgeous bitter-sweet salad.

What else for a restorative dry January? Cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts (if you can still look them in the eye) and kale support the liver’s natural detoxification pathways. 

These foods contain sulphur compounds that help produce glutathione, the body’s master antioxidant. I suggest consuming at least 80g of these veggies per day.

Finally, the spices turmeric and ginger help improve the liver’s waste removal pathways, again support digestion, and reduce inflammation in the body.

RE-BALANCE YOUR GUT HEALTH

Are you a social drinker, the kind who has a glass with friends and is immediately off to the races, downing two or three more? Or perhaps a stress drinker, who uses alcohol as a crutch after a bad day or a difficult phone call?

Both kinds of drinker very likely have imbalances in their microbiome, that collection of good bacteria we all carry around in our gut. Regular use of alcohol affects the lining of the stomach, intestinal function and leads to malabsorption of nutrients, too. Use this month for re-balancing. 

Consume prebiotic fibre — food for all that good bacteria to feast on — by eating apples, artichokes, asparagus, bananas, sweet potatoes, leeks, onion, garlic and oats.

But don’t forget probiotic-rich foods, which contain the healthy bacteria themselves. Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, pickled vegetables, and fermented dairy products (yogurt and kefir) all contain probiotics.

The quick and easy dry January route is to reach for a supplement. A good-quality broad-spectrum probiotic can help minimise specific colonies of bacteria that increase our craving for alcohol and sugar.

. . . AND DON’T BE A HERMIT!

Everyone’s social life might be dialled down now, but that doesn’t mean you want to be a hermit. So how do you resist temptation?

Make sure to eat before you attend a social gathering or event that includes alcohol to avoid that low blood sugar trap that makes you more vulnerable to having a drink. Or perhaps suggest meeting a friend for a walk outdoors instead of dinner at a restaurant.

If a regular glass of wine while cooking dinner was your thing, find simple, low-stress solutions for food. Consider a meal delivery programme occasionally, or order shopping online to avoid passing that glittering aisle of supermarket booze.

It may take seven to ten days before you begin to feel more clear-headed and experience more balanced energy and mood. But those benefits will come — and even greater ones, like improved blood pressure and hormone balance, await in the weeks that follow.

Good luck on your new path to wellness!

• Adapted by Alison Roberts from How To Eat To Change How You Drink, by Dr Brooke Scheller (Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99). © Dr Brooke Scheller 2023. To order a copy for £15.29 (offer valid to January 18, 2024; UK P&P free on orders over £25) go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.

Karl Stefanovic has been living large in sunny Noosa this holiday season, almost a year after that infamous row.

On Friday, the Today show host, 48, was spotted stocking up on crucial supplies of alcohol and ham for Christmas.

Karl, who is in Queensland with his wife Jasmine Yarbrough, 39, and their daughters Harper and Ava, looked relaxed as he emerged from a local Dan Murphy’s with a trolley full of drinks.

Karl’s favorite drinks included a pack of XXXX beer, six packs of Bundaberg rum mixers and several bottles of wine.

Earlier in the day, Karl went for breakfast before picking up a Christmas ham from the supermarket.

The television star smiled as he ran his errands in a black T-shirt and pink patterned shorts.

He completed his look with a striking Panama hat which he has worn several times in Noosa in recent days.

Meanwhile, Jasmine was summery in a loose linen blouse and matching shorts.

Willow chose a red patterned dress with a low neckline and long sleeves with tasteful ruffles.

Karl and Jasmine’s three-year-old daughter Harper looked adorable in a pink princess dress as she was sweetly escorted to the car by her mother and half-sister.

The couple’s trip to Noosa pales in comparison to their dramatic getaway to the Sunshine Coast earlier this year.

In January, extraordinary footage emerged of a heated argument between Karl’s former best friend Michael Clarke and his sister-in-law and the cricket star’s then girlfriend Jade Yarbrough while they were on holiday in Noosa with friends.

In the video, which was filmed by an onlooker and later sold to The Daily Telegraph for a reported $10,000, Jade accused Clarke of cheating on her with his ex-designer Pip Edwards on December 17.

All hell broke loose after Clarke, Karl, his wife Jasmine and her sister Jade went out for dinner at a beachside restaurant with accountant Anthony Bell.

The video starts with Yarbrough shouting at Clarke before she punched him in the face and pushed him away after the cricketer insisted he wasn’t cheating on her.

He was also accused of messaging the co-founder of activewear label PE Nation and admitting that she was the “love of his life.”

The gong chimes. The silent retreat begins. Earlier today I handed over my mobile phone to the teacher for safe-keeping. That deep bong means I’m in, we’re off — no speaking or interaction with the outside world for a week.

Around me, my 28 fellow retreatants (a mixture of ages, 26 women, two men) look a bit scared. 

Truth is, I feel pretty trepidatious myself, not to mention knackered. It is 8.30pm and my head is spinning from travelling to France by plane, train and automobile. 

My stomach growls — the watery soup for supper wasn’t exactly the truffles, foie gras and wine most would expect of the Dordogne region.

But it’s not that kind of holiday. I’m here to spend a week at the Moulin de Chaves — a Buddhist meditation centre by a river. I’ve signed up for six hours of yoga a day, plus two hours of meditation.

I’m also expected to contribute an hour’s ‘karma yoga’ (chores such as cleaning or peeling vegetables; I am on supper clear-up) and I am looking forward to swimming in the (cold) river in the couple of free hours I have in the afternoon.

Right now, I am sitting on a yoga mat inside a huge wooden meditation hall, all flying buttresses and glass windows. Outside, shadowy trees wave in the wind. 

It is eerily quiet. In London where I live, there is always the sound of a car or person. Here, deep in La France, tout est tranquille.

I close my eyes. Try to focus inside. Around me the rustling and fidgeting of people resting their bottoms on black beanbag meditation cushions finally dies down. 

The ‘invitation’ (it is always a request, not a command) is to be still, to land, to ground after our journey.

To follow the breath: I think of parts of a mantra from the late Vietnamese Buddhist monk and poet, Thich Nhat Hanh: ‘Breathing in, I know I am alive. Breathing out, I smile to life.’

I spin that around my head for a while. This session is 30 minutes long. I try not to wiggle on my beanbag. My lower back is already aching. I try to ‘turn towards, sit beside, soften around’ the ache ‘with love’ as the teacher instructs us.

It sort of works. Around me the silence is suddenly deafening. Inside my head feels a bit like a TV on fuzzy static. I take deep breaths, reminding myself that I’m going to be spending a lot of time just with me, like this, over the next seven days.

While trying to be calm and serene, my mind is racing and a stupid quote from a book I used to read to my children is repeating over and over in my head: ‘Can’t go over it, can’t go under it, got to go through it . . .’

I pull my attention back to my mantra. I last a few seconds and my mind is off on another tangent. I pull it back again.

When I told my family and friends I was going to spend a week in silence — no phone, no computer, no emails, no texts, no TV, no books, no podcasts, no booze, no meat or dairy, no chatting — they were surprised to say the least.

I’m famous for being loquacious; I’m a professional communicator. My siblings were so aghast at the very notion of ‘quiet Eleanor’ that they took bets on how long I would last.

To be honest, I wasn’t that sure I could do it myself, and when I first arrived, I was petrified. In fact, I sobbed with fear.

But it turns out I like silent Eleanor. She’s mellow and thoughtful. She has time to notice the sunlight through the trees and the way the reeds at the bottom of the river sway backwards and forwards with the eddying current.

Two days ago, I finally handed in an enormous, exhausting project, and I feel like a sponge which has been squeezed out. This week of silence is my present to myself. Not just a retreat, but a treat. The best kind of personal replenishment there is.

It’s not for everyone — my mum thinks I’m nuts. ‘Why don’t you just go and collapse on a sunlounger with a book like a normal person?’ she asked. 

Well, because life is hectic. I am a writer, run my own business, have a busy team, and I’m a mum and wife. I’m a news and adrenaline junkie, having spent three decades working as a top-flight editor on British national newspapers.

Usually my brain is a constant whirr of to-do lists. I clock up around four hours a day on my mobile phone; more on my laptop and in meetings.

This week of silence is yin to that yang, the antithesis of my normal. This is a digital detox, too, a chance to be unplugged from everything. Here, I sleep not with my husband of 27 years, but in a monastic single bed; there is no TV or radio.

To drift off I look out of my window at the stars, which are so bright I can see constellations and the Milky Way. 

It takes me a while to get to sleep and I wake up in the small hours sweating, unsure where I am, freaked out by strange dreams (Donald Trump saying he’ll tweet about my platform noon.org.uk for midlife women . . . hmmm).

When my borrowed alarm clock trills at 7am for pre-breakfast meditation, I am groggy and cross.

I stagger to the hall and my cushion, a hoodie thrown over my PJs. I eat a breakfast of watery porridge and stewed apple. Then there’s a three-hour morning yoga session. 

Each day we work on a different set of energetic pathways, moving from grounding to exploring fear, anger, heart, connectedness and spirit.

Wringing out the muscles leads to unexpected emotional epiphanies. I have a dodgy right knee — I snapped my cruciate ligament skiing 20 years ago, which means I can’t fold it back underneath me as the session requires — and the sense of being incapable, unworthy, not good enough is intense.

I know it isn’t my fault, but that sensation amplifies in the silence and, before I know it, I am tumbling down a wormhole of ‘lack’. 

It is like a depth charge blowing up all my insecurities. I start to weep snottily into my yoga bolster. It has stirred up something very deep.

‘In this moment you are safe in your body,’ intones my teacher Ayala Gill. ‘It is safe to be you. All is welcome here.’ 

Around me others are also weeping, digging into their own insecurities, their own sore, dark places, the ones that usually we would rather ignore. The bits that we hide away, that we numb out with busyness or glasses of wine.

But here, held by the teacher, surrounded by calm and peace, it feels safe to explore the things I usually avoid.

It is powerful to move towards the pain, to use it as a portal to find my own release and healing. I have done years of therapy — this is deeper.

After the weeping I feel lighter, like I have looked deep into me and come to terms with it. 

I am 52 and it has taken me until now to shake off the programming of my childhood — be good, succeed, achieve! For the first time in my life, I feel that it is OK just to be me. As I am.

Not thinner, or more successful, or different. No more being a square peg in a round hole; no more being what others want or expect me to be. Just me. Silent Eleanor. Phew!

Every day we do a three-hour session of Iyengar yoga in the morning, followed by three hours of yin yoga (intense stretching poses) and different kinds of meditation in the afternoon. 

In one session we explore where we ‘hold anger’. I stretch my legs out wide, looking up into the bamboo trees (we do this session on an outside deck beside a pond full of carp, surrounded by statues of the Buddha).

As I hold the stretch (it is a kind of mild agony), I feel energy building inside me. 

My head is aching (probably caffeine withdrawal), but suddenly the energy of the anger seems to split open the bit of my skull where the headache is, and I see a key relationship through a different lens. I had felt the fault was all mine and been mired in guilt.

Finally, I get through the sadness to the anger beneath and, wow, it is liberating. 

When the teacher suggests we take half an hour to meditate in nature, I find myself dancing like a child in the middle of a field, blowing dandelions with delight. I feel free.

The next morning, we are doing tree poses. I am very wobbly on the knee that is damaged. But the teacher suggests that we raise our arms and join our hands.

Suddenly, I’m upright and proud, standing tall and strong, lifted by the women next to me. We are like a forest of people, supporting each other, stronger and more resilient together. We grin wildly, exchanging ecstatic smiles.

The strangest thing about a silent retreat is how much communication happens without words. When I am sad, several others come and wordlessly hug me. A shared sense of the ridiculous is apparent in eyes caught in smiles.

Small gestures in the lunch queue, the delivery of half a ripe peach into my breakfast bowl from a woman with a secret stash, a glance of understanding over a poem. 

There is communality here, new friendship and support. I don’t feel alone; I am part of a collective. Just a wordless one.

Silence does lead to some misunderstandings. During clear-up one night, I am frustrated that one of the team isn’t pulling her weight (wrongly, as it turns out).

I roll my eyes. She sees. I can tell she is upset, but there is no way to communicate the misunderstanding. At the end of the retreat, when the silence is broken, the first thing I do is give her a hug and say I am sorry.

She hugs me back gratefully, telling me that the fleeting eye-roll plunged her into a long dissection of her relationship with her disapproving mother. 

It turns out to have been a key moment in a huge internal shift for her. In silence our actions are magnified.

With so little stimulation, it is easy to brood on what was meant by a gesture. A key teaching is that ‘the way we do anything is the way we do everything’. I resolve not to be so quick to judge in the future.

Ultimately, though, it is all grist to the mill. We are all here exploring our internal landscapes; the silence allows for unbroken reflection, for unearthing and processing deep wounds.

By exploring all of our darkest corners we expose them to the light of our presence, of our loving acceptance. As the outside world becomes more distant, I feel my mind is like a snow globe settling. 

In that first meditation the inside of my head was full of static. By day five, when I close my eyes, I see a calm purple light. My mind stops jumping and instead is focused. Still.

On the penultimate morning my 7.30am meditation feels very deep. As if I — Eleanor — am no longer even there. 

It is still and calm and beautiful. I emerge into the daylight blinking at the iridescence of the dappled leaves in the sun. I cross a small bridge over the stream and stand by the river watching the light shimmering.

The poplars and willows go fuzzy, the inside of my head is like an impressionist painting, and suddenly that fades, too, and it all goes white. 

I am flooded with golden light; it is so beautiful I weep with joy, there on the bank of the river in my yoga pants.

Over the week I become ‘ungloved’, as the poet Mark Nepo puts it. The hubbub and busy-ness of daily life; endlessly trimming and not articulating what we really feel. 

All of this can become like a callous over our capacity to truly feel. Like emotional gloves over our hands; a barrier. A numbness. 

Stripping everything back like this, it is as though we unpeel the layers. Take off the gloves; become more sensitive to our true selves, more open to the beauty of the world and our direct loving response to it. More truly and essentially ourselves.

Yes, it can be uncomfortable and sad — but by removing the numbness we allow ourselves to feel everything. The good and the bad — and, most of all, the wonder. Try it!

• Eleanor Mills is the founder of noon.org.uk — home of the Queenager.

It’s being hailed as a healthy alternative to coffee, giving you a daily dose of caffeine but also pumping your body full of antioxidants — and according to a recent study, it could even help treat depression.

Matcha is a type of green tea that has been ground into a fine powder, usually whisked in water before adding to steamed milk to make lattes – but while it is said to be good for gut health, some people claim it causes them serious get stomach ache.

Fitness influencer Maeve Madden, who lives between Ireland and Dubai, posted a video on TikTok of herself in agonizing pain after claiming she drank an Iced Matcha Latte with oat milk from Starbucks.

It comes as other TikTokers claim Starbucks’ Matcha products cause stomach problems, while some people say Matcha products from other stores give them cramps.

Speaking to her followers, the fitness instructor, who runs the Queens Don’t Quit program, said she often drinks Matcha lattes and has never had this problem before – leaving her confident that Starbucks’ offering is causing problems.

Although people speculated that the American coffee chain might put some kind of additive in their Matcha products, Starbucks has insisted that this is not the case.

A Starbucks spokesperson told FEMAIL: ‘We serve all our Matcha Green Tea Lattes in the UK with 100% green tea and no added sugar to ensure every cup is of the highest quality.

‘All nutritional information is readily available in stores on our menu boards and via our mobile app and website, making it easier for our customers to make informed choices.’

In the clip, Maeve is doubled over in bed and says, “Oh my God, I’m in so much pain.”

She then explains, “This morning I ate an oat milk Iced Matcha Latte from Starbucks on an empty stomach.

“I mean, if it’s causing that much pain, there should be a warning sign.”

The influencer then jokes: ‘I wanted to go to the hospital, but I’m afraid the doctor would say: ‘what happened?’ I’ll say, “I had an oat milk Iced Matcha Latte,” making a fool of myself.

Maeve also posted the clip to Instagram, where she has 366,000 followers, and clarified in the caption that drinking hot water with lemon and ginger finally settled her stomach.

However, she added that she will not order the drink at Starbucks again, and spoke to other people who left comments on her video to say that they had had stomach aches from Starbucks drinks in the past.

One person said he had been in the same situation after drinking the coffee chain’s Matcha drink and said: ‘Been there done that!!! Not good.’

Another said that they have a weak stomach and often drink matcha lattes without any problems, to which Maeve replied: ‘It was definitely the Starbucks Matcha. I love a Matcha latte and this has never happened before.”

Other TikTok users based in the US have taken note of the issues they’ve had with their Starbucks Matcha Lattes.

A content creator named Gonca joked on the video platform about feeling “nauseous” after drinking an over-strength Matcha latte.

She films herself sipping from a straw and shaking the ice into the plastic cup, and writes over the clip: ‘POV: Your Starbucks barista didn’t add enough water and coconut milk to your Matcha green tea, so now you’re nervous and nauseous’.

She further captioned the video, “There is such a thing as too much green tea, especially on an empty stomach.”

Elsewhere, TikTok user Daisy filmed herself tasting a Starbucks matcha latte for the first time – which she promptly throws in the trash.

After trying the coffee alternative for the first time, she revealed that it left her feeling bloated within minutes.

Similarly, a 2020 Reddit thread posted by an American user asked others what was in the Starbucks Matcha Latte after the person claimed he got “intense stomach cramps” from the Starbucks Iced Matcha Latte.

The person said they thought the product tasted “great” but claimed they were forced to stop ordering it.

“I’ve tried other matcha lattes from different places in the past and had no problems, but now I’m always very hesitant,” they wrote.

However, other people have complained that they have had stomach problems after drinking Matcha products from other outlets, suggesting that it is not just the Starbucks product that is causing problems.

According to professional plant-based chef Lisa Marley, the problem may lie with Matcha’s ingredient in general, rather than the offerings of a particular coffee chain.

First, Lisa noticed the high caffeine content in the powder.

‘Matcha tea contains a significant amount of caffeine, which can stimulate the production of stomach acid. Drinking it on an empty stomach can lead to increased acid production, which can cause stomach irritation or acid reflux,” she explained.

The private chef, who is also a certified nutritionist, added that the product also contains a substance called tannins, which occur naturally in many plants (including black tea).

She explained: ‘Tannins can have an astringent effect on the stomach lining, which can lead to stomach pain or discomfort, especially if consumed in large quantities on an empty stomach.’

Third, Lisa explained that a sensitivity to Matcha can also be explained by an intolerance, which can cause digestive problems, especially if you consume it before eating anything.

She advised: ‘To prevent stomach ache, it is recommended to consume Matcha tea with food or after a light meal.

‘Additionally, if you experience persistent stomach discomfort after consuming Matcha tea, it is advisable to consult a doctor for further examination.’