The idea of a "sober January" has been around for as long as man has cursed his in-laws at Christmas. And while a month off the booze sounds like a seductive way to make up for all that hard-drinking festive excess, it’s actually a terrible idea, rooted in guilt rather than science. And for some people who actually have a real problem with alcohol, successfully completing a "sober January" can give the dangerous illusion that they don’t have a problem. 
 
 I should know. I was one of them. I speak not only as a veteran of many a sober January, but also as someone who was finally forced to admit that yes, they were an alcoholic, and had to stop drinking entirely. I have not had a drink for several years now. I don’t say this to boast, merely to put in context what follows. 
 
 I remember one hungover December morning telling a colleague at the magazine where I was working at the time that I was planning to stay off the drink for a month in the new year. 
 
 “Why on earth would you do that?” he replied. “A few drinks are the only thing that get you through January, it’s so bloody miserable.” 
 
 He wasn’t an addict, so he didn’t understand the allure of a sober January to someone who was – that the idea of getting obliterated over Christmas and New Year and then "white-knuckling" it for a month before picking up where you left off is deeply appealing to the classic all-or-nothing, getting-away-with-it mentality of the addict. 
 
 I managed several sober Januarys and they became an important weapon in my armoury of denial. Me, an alcoholic? Hardly! How could I manage to stay off drink for a month if I was? 
 
 I find it particularly depressing that this year, the idea of a dry January is being promoted by the UK’s biggest alcohol charity, the always well-intentioned Alcohol Concern. Although the charity is careful to state in small print at the bottom of its webpage that the challenge should "not be attempted by people with an alcohol dependency problem" unfortunately those are exactly the kind of people a promotion like this will attract. Year after year, the only mates that I could persuade to do a sober January with me were the ones who were as bad as or worse than me. The normals, like my co-worker, were never interested. Why would they be? 
 
 If you are worried about the amount you have been drinking, the answer is not to swear off drink for a month. The answer is to try and establish whether you do really have a problem. And the best way to do that, ironically enough, is to do some drinking. 
 
 This was the course of action recommended by Bill Wilson, the co-founder of the self-help movement Alcoholics Anonymous. Wilson believed that alcoholics suffer a kind of allergic reaction to alcohol, and that once they start drinking they develop an overwhelming craving for more. This craving, he thought, is only made worse by subsequent attempts to satisfy it with more drink, like an itch that gets worse the more you scratch it. 
 
 Wilson’s alcoholism test is remarkably simple, and does not involve any boxes to tick or medical examinations or liver function tests; it just requires a modicum of honesty. 
 
 “We do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself,” he wrote. “Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it.” 
 
 So - unless your sole aim is to save cash - don't challenge yourself to a sober January. Anyone can do that. Try having a pint every night – but just one – if you really want to prove you don’t have a problem. 
 
 As my friend said all those years ago, January sucks - just look at the weather outside - and you normals should have all the help you can to get through it. ||||| A glass of red wine a day can improve cardiac health and help manage cholesterol for patients with type 2 diabetes, according to findings in a 2-year study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. 
 
 
 
 Red wine can help people with type 2 diabetes to avoid heart disease. Red wine can help people with type 2 diabetes to avoid heart disease. 
 
 Moderate alcohol consumption has been linked to improved cardiovascular and total mortality rates, and a glass of red wine a day as part of a healthy diet has been considered beneficial for some time. 
 
 There is evidence that type 2 diabetes is less prevalent among moderate drinkers, yet the risk-benefit balance is controversial for such patients, due to a lack of long-term randomized studies. 
 
 Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev-Soroka Medical Center and Nuclear Research Center Negev, Israel, wondered if both red and white wine might improve glucose control, depending on alcohol metabolism and genetic profiling. 
 
 Previous research has suggested that ethanol (alcohol) is the key, meaning that alcoholic drinks other than red wine could be equally beneficial; others claim that red wine has particularly advantageous properties. 
 
 Potential benefits for people with type 2 diabetes 
 
 People with diabetes have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, as well as lower levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. High levels of HDL cholesterol can reduce the risk for heart disease and stroke, as it absorbs cholesterol and carries it back to the liver, where it is flushed from the body. 
 
 Fast facts about diabetes 29.1 million people in the US probably have diabetes, or 9.3% of the population 
 
 21 million have been diagnosed 
 
 An estimated further 8.1 million have not been diagnosed. Learn more about diabetes 
 
 Should patients with type 2 diabetes be recommended to take up moderate alcohol consumption? The American Diabetes Association (ADA) leave the decision to the individual; the American Heart Association (AHA) recommend discussing alcohol with a physician. 
 
 The researchers wanted to find out what the cardiometabolic effects would be when patients with type 2 diabetes took up drinking moderate amounts of alcohol; they also wanted to assess whether the type of wine would matter. 
 
 They hypothesized that initiating moderate wine consumption would lower cardiometabolic risk, mainly because of the ethanol component. They predicted similar effects of red and white wine. Because of genetic variability in alcohol metabolism, they predicted that the effects of wine would vary according to ADH1B genotype. 
 
 The 224 participants were 40-75-year-old alcohol-abstaining men and women with well-controlled type 2 diabetes. 
 
 Among those excluded were: people already taking more than one alcoholic drink per week, anyone with a history of addiction and patients using two or more insulin injections a day. 
 
 Measurements taken at baseline included genetic markers, blood pressure, liver biomarkers, medication use and symptoms, and quality of life. 
 
 From June 2010 to May 2012, participants were randomly assigned to 150 mL of mineral water, white wine or red wine with dinner. Wines and mineral water were provided. All groups followed a Mediterranean diet without caloric restriction. At intervals, blood samples were taken, questionnaires completed and group sessions attended. 
 
 Lipid and glycemic control profiles were primarily measured. Secondary outcomes included triglyceride levels, blood pressure, waist circumference, genetic interaction, medication use, liver function tests and quality-of-life indicators. 
 
 Red wine indicates a better cardiometabolic rate 
 
 After 2 years, no material differences were identified across the groups in blood pressure, adiposity, liver function, drug therapy, symptoms or quality of life, except that sleep quality improved in both wine groups compared with the water group. 
 
 However, patients who drank wine showed decreased cardiometabolic risks compared with those drinking mineral water. The red wine drinkers experienced the most significant changes in lipid variables. 
 
 The researchers unexpectedly found that while the alcohol itself appears to aid glycemic control, red wine has a stronger effect on lipid levels and overall variables of the metabolic syndrome, suggesting that its non-alcoholic constituents also play a role. 
 
 The red wine had seven times higher levels of total phenols than the white wine. Whether the phenolic compounds increase the cardioprotectiveness is still debated. The team calls for differences between red and white wine to be further studied, with focus on the varied biodeliverability of the compounds. 
 
 The team found that genetic differences affected glycemic control and therefore suggest that genetic information could assist in identifying which patients with type 2 diabetes would benefit from moderate wine consumption. 
 
 Limitations include the participants not being blinded to treatment allocation, but the long-term nature of the study is a strength. 
 
 The authors caution that the benefits of drinking wine should be weighed against potential risks when translated into clinical practice. 
 
 Medical News Today recently reported on research suggesting that red wine can help stabilize a biomarker for Alzheimer's disease. ||||| A glass of red wine each evening with dinner may offer heart health perks to people with type 2 diabetes. 
 
 A two-year study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine is the first long-term study aimed at assessing the effects and safety of drinking moderate amounts of alcohol in people with type 2 diabetes, who are more at risk for developing cardiovascular disease than the general population. Those with type 2 diabetes also tend to have lower levels of HDL, the "good" cholesterol. 
 
 The researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev reported that over two years, red wine helped improve signs of cardiac health by modestly increasing levels of HDL cholesterol and lowering overall cholesterol. 
 
 The randomized controlled intervention trial involved 224 controlled diabetes patients aged 45 to 75, who generally abstained from alcohol. The patients were randomly assigned to drink 5 ounces of red wine, white wine, or mineral water (the control group) with their dinner for two years. They were all given instructions to follow a well-balanced Mediterranean diet plan that did not have a calorie restriction. 
 
 The researchers performed genetic tests that showed how quickly the patients metabolized alcohol, as well as various lipid (cholesterol) tests. They also measured glucose control, blood pressure, liver function tests, medication use, and other symptoms at several time points during the two-year follow-up. 
 
 Compared with the group that drank water, patients in the red wine group had improvements in their lipid tests, the study showed. "Red wine was found to be superior in improving overall metabolic profiles, mainly by modestly improving the lipid profile, by increasing good HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1, one of the major constituents of HDL cholesterol, while decreasing the ratio between total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol," the researchers explained. 
 
 Also, in both wine groups, patients who were "slow alcohol metabolizers" (according to the genetic tests) showed more improvements in glucose control tests than "fast alcohol metabolizers." Compared with water, wine did not increase or decrease blood pressure or liver function tests. 
 
 The study authors noted that in both red and white wine drinkers, sleep quality was significantly improved, too, compared with the water control group. 
 
 Iris Shai, principal investigator of the trial, and a member of the Department of Public Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences, said in a press statement, "The differences found between red and white wine were opposed to our original hypothesis that the beneficial effects of wine are mediated predominantly by the alcohol." 
 
 So, how much can people with type 2 diabetes sip at dinner without going over the top? "One to two glasses of red wine for men and up to one glass of red wine for women, daily, at dinner," was the amount indicated by the study, Dr. Minisha Sood, an endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital, told CBS News. 
 
 Sood said researchers have known for some time that moderate amounts of alcohol are acceptable for diabetics, but the jury was out on which kind of alcohol might offer the most benefit. 
 
 Sood said of red wine's health-enhancing ingredients: "It's the non-ethanol components of the wine, which are present more so in red wine. It's the phenols, it's the resveratrol, it's the tannins. They all work together with the ethanol possibly to result in these positive changes." 
 
 While the study shows benefits, Dr. Susan Spratt, an endocrinologist and assistant professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine, said, "I worry about the subset of my type 2 diabetes patients who drink too much, and that this may give them more ammunition to say alcohol is good for diabetes. Over-drinking can poison the pancreas. In these patients, when they stop drinking, their diabetes gets tremendously better." 
 
 Spratt also told CBS News that in the South, where she lives, many people abstain from drinking for religious reasons. She said, "Here in the South, it would not be something I would generally recommend. I would not say, 'Now you should start drinking wine.' I wouldn't tell someone to start drinking, but if I knew a type 2 diabetes patient was a moderate drinker, I would tell them it looks like red wine is the best choice out of all alcohols to drink, rather than white wine, beer, or hard liquor." 
 
 Spratt also noted that the study did not look at cardiovascular outcomes such as heart attack and stroke. 
 
 For 51-year-old Garret Rubin, who said he has to watch out for everything -- fats, salt, sugar -- in his diet since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the study is a positive note. 
 
 Rubin said diet, exercise and medication will remain his first line of defense, but he told CBS News, "Now, since I have a choice, I think red wine might be the thing." 
 
 Editor's note: In an earlier version of this article, Dr. Sood said red wine decreased development of heart disease, but that was not found in the study. The research only looked at risk factors like cholesterol levels, not whether patients actually developed heart disease.
– Thinking of giving up booze for the month after a hedonistic holiday season? Well, you might be an alcoholic making a big mistake, writes Tom Sykes at the Telegraph. As a recovering alcoholic, Sykes should know. "I managed several sober Januaries, and they became an important weapon in my armory of denial," he writes. A real alcoholic, after all, couldn't make it, he reasoned. But the truth is the ritual appeals deeply "to the classic all-or-nothing, getting-away-with-it mentality of the addict," while "normals" have no use for it. He advises instead trying to have just one drink a night—if stopping after one is difficult, you'll know you have a problem. But if you actually are a "normal," it turns out there might be some merit in the month-long detox. The staff at the New Scientist ran a small-scale test on themselves, and got some pretty astonishing results. Ten staffers laid off booze for five weeks, and saw their liver fat, blood glucose, and blood cholesterol levels all fall significantly—reducing their risk for liver disease, diabetes, and heart disease—while four staffers who kept drinking saw no changes. But it was a fairly limited experiment, offering no clue how long those effects will last. Heather Timmons at Quartz argues that such "detoxes" are "useless" in the long-term, since the body regularly clears out toxins all on its own. So instead, she recommends taking two or three consecutive days off from drinking each week, since it takes the liver a full day to recover from heavy drinking—plus, over the course of a year, that ensures as many as 150 alcohol-free days.