Why do the Dry January® challenge?

See your skin get brighter, your wallet fuller, your days busier. Feel your step get bouncier, your mind calmer, your mornings fresher. Most people who take on the Dry January® challenge see a whole host of obvious benefits that make the Dry January® challenge the perfect start to the New Year.

A month alcohol-free has a lot of benefits: research published in 2018, conducted by the Royal Free Hospital and published in the British Medical Journal, found that a month off:

• Lowers blood pressure
• Reduces diabetes risk
• Lowers cholesterol
• Reduces levels of cancer-related proteins in the blood.

Wow.

The real magic happens when the Dry January® challenge is over. The Dry January® challenge helps people to drink more healthily year-round. Research conducted by the University of Sussex has found that six months after the Dry January® challnege more than 70% of people who take on the month with Alcohol Change UK's Try Dry® app or coaching emails are still drinking more healthily. On top of that, they have boosted levels of wellbeing, and much more besides.

How can it be that just a month off has a long-term impact? Being alcohol-free for 31 days shows us that we don’t need alcohol to have fun, to relax, or to socialise. It helps us learn the skills we need to manage our drinking. That means that for the rest of the year we are better able to make decisions about when we drink and how much, so we can avoid slipping into drinking more than we really want to.

That's extra good news, because alcohol is linked with more than 60 health conditions, including liver disease, high blood pressure, depression and seven types of cancer. In fact, alcohol is the biggest risk factor for death, ill-health and disability for people aged 15-49 in the UK. Cutting back on alcohol long-term reduces your risk of developing these conditions.