I quit drinking alcohol — and I'm stunned by what my Oura Ring 4 told me about my health

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I noticed three things change fast

Oura Ring 4
(Image credit: Future)

I wear the Oura Ring 4 to track my sleep and fitness, and it has proved itself as the best smart ring on the market for accuracy and insights into my health and wellbeing, as far as I'm concerned.

At the end of last year, I quit drinking alcohol as part of a social experiment. Aside from the potential physiological benefits of quitting alcohol, like losing fat and improving markers such as heart health, I was also concerned about the psychological impact on my well-being.

I quit alcohol: 3 things I noticed fast using my Oura Ring 4

The silver Oura Ring 4 on turquoise surface

(Image credit: Future)

Here is what I noticed in a short time tracking my health with the Oura Ring 4 and its partner app.

1. Stress resilience

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Stress Resilience tool used on Oura Ring 4 app blue background
(Image credit: Future)

Stress resilience

The Oura Stress Resilience feature is measured by your Oura Ring, starting two hours after you wake and measuring throughout the day. This assesses your ability to withstand and recover from physiological stress in the long term, focusing on recovery during the day and night.

During the day, moments of calm and exercise can help you build resilience for the future, while at night, sleep quality, adequate REM and deep sleep, latency and the number of hours you rest also help the body recover properly, all contributing toward how well your body copes with potential challenges.

Your resilience score ranges from “Limited” to “Exceptional” — the latter something I haven’t experienced once in almost five years… until now. I haven’t just leveled up once during this experiment, but three times, and from a score of “Adequate” to “Exceptional” in just 30 days. My readiness also hit a new high of 92/100.

I haven’t just leveled up (stress resilience) once during this experiment, but three times!

Oura tells me, “Your resilience has gone up to rare heights! Recently, you’ve balanced moderate physiological stress with some great nighttime recovery.” Oura also recommends I add an extra break or two into my day to improve things further.

The science tells us there is a strong relationship between stress and alcohol long term, and it can have an enormous impact on your ability to handle life stressors and your ability to recover emotionally, mentally and physically.

Alcohol temporarily reduces feelings of stress because it stimulates the brain's GABA receptors and increases GABA activity (this is an inhibitory neurotransmitter in your central nervous system, which promotes calmness), causing sedative effects like reducing anxiety.

However, it can have the opposite effect on stress in the long term, raising cortisol levels and potentially, inflammation.

Evidence shows that prolonged and excessive alcohol consumption can become a stressor by dysregulating the brain reward and stress systems. You can see how a cycle might develop: Drink to reduce stress and feel calmer, then become more stressed over time... and so on.

Another interesting piece of research published by Neurobiology of Stress in Science Direct suggests a link between stress resilience and alcohol consumption. Developing better stress resilience could act as a protective measure against using alcohol and reducing overall alcohol consumption.

I found this fascinating, as I only ever drink socially with friends and family at dinner or events. Yet, my resilience started skyrocketing when alcohol was removed from my lifestyle completely. I'm known within my close circle not to handle stress very well (at all), so this was a great result.

2. Resting heart rate and Heart Rate Variance (HRV)

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Oura app showing HRV balance and resilience scores against blue background
(Image credit: Future)

HRV status

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a longer-term trend that looks at how your body responds to factors such as training, stress, or travel. It measures the intervals between heartbeats, and a positive or high HRV is generally associated with better stress recovery, telling you a lot about your overall heart health and longevity.

Research published in Semantic Scholar suggests a high HRV is linked to better working memory and greater cognitive flexibility.

But while HRV balance is a measure of your long-term recovery status, nightly HRV is a metric of, as Oura puts it, “temporary stressors.” Nighttime HRV can dip from things such as workouts, alcohol, illness, or high temperatures, and even your menstrual cycle can cause variations in HRV depending on which phase you’re in.

Other metrics that contribute to HRV include body temperature, resting heart rate, recovery index, various sleep factors and activity levels.

Oura tells me, “Compared to your longer-term trend over the past 90 days, stress management has improved notably — keep using the practices that are working — and your sleep health remains consistently looking good while heart health is thriving.”

I’ve now reached an optimal HRV balance, and my lowest resting heart rate has decreased to an average of 52 beats per minute (BPM) for February, down from 55 bpm in January and peaking at 59 bpm in December.

A low heart rate is associated with higher fitness, so if you plan to measure these metrics with your Oura Ring, look out for positive HRV trends and a lower resting heart rate. Oura will signal to you how your resilience is looking.

3. Sleep

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Stress management, sleep and heart rate summary on the Oura app against a blue background
(Image credit: Future)

Sleep

Since quitting alcohol, I have seen my sleep scores skyrocket, particularly my REM and deep sleep, which account for dream-state, cognition and processing and restorative sleep, respectively.

I finally hit my highest sleep score since first slipping on my Oura Ring nearly five years ago: 93/100. Over the days and weeks, my sleep numbers have been steadily increasing, including an all-time high REM and deep sleep of 1 hour and 50 minutes and one 1 and 33 minutes, respectively, just days ago.

Another sleep metric to improve is breathing regularity, which measures dips in blood oxygen levels during sleep, indicating breathing disturbances. While Oura doesn’t diagnose sleep apnea, measuring over time could help you find out if you might suffer from the condition, so it’s well worth checking and speaking with your physician if you’re concerned.

I often have breathing disturbances; Oura helped me detect sleep apnea a while ago, but I’ve noticed this happens way less when not drinking alcohol. It turns out that alcohol can significantly worsen symptoms, which was news to me and might be for you, too.

According to the Sleep Apnea Organization, alcohol acts as a relaxant that can “worsen airway obstruction in sleep apnea,” while also inhibiting the nervous system’s response to breathing issues when asleep, with research into the relationship between the two showing strong associations.

Bottom line

When I spoke to a recovery expert not long ago, she told me something that stuck with me. She said we need to focus less on the numbers on our wearables and more on how we feel.

If your Garmin tells you you've just had an awful sleep, giving you a low sleep score as a result, but you feel great, should you listen to your watch or your body? So, with this in mind, how do I feel after more than a month of not drinking alcohol?

In truth, I feel incredible, and I really didn't expect it. As I mentioned, I am a social drinker. My job in the fitness industry means I can't afford to nurse a sore head on too many occasions, especially when I'm coaching or exercising on any given day.

But aside from sleeping and recovering better, I feel more level-headed, calm and balanced with my moods, which is something I never thought I'd say as someone with ADHD. And it's a bonus waking up each morning to positive metrics on my Oura Ring that are trending up by the week.

I plan to report back in another month's time, hopefully, with even better news.

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Sam Hopes
Sam Hopes
Fitness Editor and Coach

Sam Hopes is a level 3 qualified trainer, a level 2 Reiki practitioner and fitness editor at Tom's Guide. She is also currently undertaking her Yoga For Athletes training course.

Sam has written for various fitness brands and websites over the years and has experience across brands at Future, such as Live Science, Fit&Well, Coach, and T3.

Having coached at fitness studios like F45 and Virgin Active and personal trained, Sam now primarily teaches outdoor bootcamps, bodyweight, calisthenics and kettlebells.

She also coaches mobility and flexibility classes several times a week and believes that true strength comes from a holistic approach to training your body.

Sam has completed two mixed doubles Hyrox competitions in London and the Netherlands and finished her first doubles attempt in 1:11.

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