Dry January or bad January?

Dry January is the annual movement through which millions of people give up alcohol for the month of January. However research has shown that such a drastic lifestyle change may not be as positive as it seems.

Alcohol Concern and Cancer Research UK are both running “Dry January” events.

staying sober for 31 days will make you feel healthier, loose weight and save money,

Alcohol concern, Cancer research uk 

The purpose of dry January is to enable you to take control of your relationship with alcohol, and drive conversations such as why do we drink it, what does it do, and how can we reduce the harm it causes?

According to Alcohol concern, and Cancer research uk staying sober for 31 days will make you feel healthier, loose weight and save money, all while raising money for good causes.

However research behind dry January is mixed as some experts say going from a period of heavy drinking to nothing, followed by a February binge is worse than moderate drinking.

I don’t think taking one month a year off alcohol makes any difference.

James Ferguson, liver specialist

The British Liver Trust is also not a big fan of the movement – it says people should drink sensibly throughout the year, and is currently looking to measure the health benefits of dry January in a study.

James Ferguson, a liver specialist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, said “I don’t think taking one month a year off alcohol makes any difference. It’s more important to cut back generally”.

Dr Christian Jessen also stated that in some cases people can even end up drinking more: “I worry that heavy drinkers aren’t embarking on this period of abstinence because they want to radically change their habits forever. They simply want to be able to feel they can drink like fishes from 1 February.”

Other disadvantages of dry January include, effects on your social life as a study carried out by New Scientist reported less social contact. It could also be a sign of alcohol dependence, as being able to commit to a month without alcohol creates the illusion that people are not addicted to alcohol – but in reality shows they could be struggling to control their drinking habits.

of course, some argue that the month off is better than nothing with many positives also.