Post-Holiday Detox Does 'More Harm Than Good'

Planning to go cold turkey after some heavy holiday boozing? British doctors warn it may do more harm than good, the Daily Mail reports. The so-called "Janopause"—a month of forced sobriety after New Year's—often leads to excessive drinking from February onward. "You’re better off making a resolution to take a few days off alcohol a week throughout the entire year than remaining abstinent for January only," says liver expert Andrew Langford.

Periods of sobriety punctuated by heavy drinking don't help the liver, which treats alcohol as a poison and breaks it down with enzymes. True, enzymes can cause liver scarring and sometimes-fatal cirrhosis, but a month of sipping apple juice doesn't enable the liver to play catchup. (More alcohol abuse stories.)