Dry January: what benefits can we expect from the month without alcohol?

Accomplishment, relief, pride. These are the feelings often felt each year by thousands of people who undertake “Dry January”, this challenge which consists of spending the month of January without alcohol to start the new year. The concept saw the light of day under the leadership of the British organization Alcohol Change UK, which launched the first Dry January in 2013. Since then, the operation has gained popularity. In France, thousands of people spend the month of January in clean water. But for what short or long term benefits? And for what collective result in terms of public health?

From simple curiosity to the first step towards weaning, the trigger is very personal. Virgil, a great sportsman, takes up the challenge every year. “I regularly drink alcohol with my friends. But as I also do a lot of sport, I try to pay attention to my consumption because it can affect my own performance or simply my motivation to go to the gym the day after a drunken evening. » For Théo, a doctoral student, this challenge is an opportunity to think about his personal consumption. “It is entirely possible to have a good time without alcohol and Dry January allows you to prove it,” he explains. And knowing that alcohol is bad for your health, it’s doubly beneficial.”

In France, alcohol remains the second cause of preventable death after tobacco. Beyond immediate risks such as accidents linked to drunkenness, chronic drinking promotes weight gain, the risk of cirrhosis, hypertension, sleep disorders, anxiety, depression and even the risk of cancer (particularly liver and mouth). “During the end-of-year celebrations, we also tend to eat more fat, consume more alcohol while being less active,” adds Bernard Basset, doctor and president of Addictions France. All these factors increase the risk of overloading your liver. In this context, Dry January can be beneficial for everyone to detoxify their body after the holidays.

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The effects are visible from the first days of abstinence. “In general, people feel less tense and more energetic,” emphasizes Dr. Basset. But the most spectacular effect remains the improvement in the quality of sleep.” This is the case for Theo. “After a long break without alcohol, I wake up less during the night and I feel like I'm sleeping more soundly. " He is not the only one. In a 2019 University of Sussex study of nearly 3,000 Dry January participants, 71% said they slept better. But the benefit goes well beyond: 58% were pleased with weight loss, 57% with being more focused on a daily basis and 54% with more beautiful skin. It also proved to be an ally for the wallet, with 90% of participants in this study confirming that they had saved money.

In the longer term, however, the effects on health are more difficult to measure. “Dry January probably has little influence on disease risk or mortality because it involves other factors such as lifestyle and environment. However, it is certain that this operation helps raise awareness, which is absolutely not negligible,” insists Bernard Basset. Specialists note that the resumption of alcohol is more gradual at the end of the challenge, which suggests that its effect can be lasting. For example, according to surveys in the United Kingdom, some participants report having lower alcohol consumption within six months.

According to the specialist, this change in behavior could be explained by awareness of the influence of the social context: “alcohol consumption is still too often a simple reflex”. Virgil does not hide from this “worldly” effect of alcohol: “it is certain that my consumption is strongly associated with moments of conviviality, several times a week, and that the month without alcohol is also a means to realize it. And even if I take on the challenge, I can see that there is always a moment when I break down during outings with friends,” he admits. Last year, he lasted “almost” 20 days before resuming his usual consumption. “This year, I’m going to surpass myself.”

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If Dry January is a challenge taken up at an individual level, it also has a significant impact through collective commitment. “The event acts as a powerful collective awareness tool for alcohol-related problems,” underlines Bernard Basset. Support groups, guides and applications for smartphones... The operation encouraged the creation of multiple tools to support participants and provide reflection on consumption habits. Alongside the major national campaign (led since 2020 in France), several large cities such as Lyon and Paris are relying on the initiative to create their own websites. This is also the case for the city of Brest which highlights the challenges of the challenge in its “Brest alcohol plan”. By encouraging a large number of people to participate, the operation stimulates dialogue between the public, associative and institutional stakeholders and communities around the risks of excessive alcohol consumption.