Dry January
Dry January (Why do it)?
If you are concerned about your own or someone else's drinking or just wanted to signpost a patient who asks for help they can contact Drinkline for free confidential support on 0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am–8pm, weekends 11am–4pm).
Some people do Dry January because they are concerned but most do it just as way to promote a healthier lifestyle and start the new year more healthily which of course can not be a bad thing!
The website " Alcohol Change UK " has a yearly promotional activity commonly referred to as Dry January https://alcoholchange.org.uk/help-and-support/managing-your-drinking/dry-january
Dry January started in 2013 with 4,000 people. Now in it's 13th year it's come a long way since then, with over 215,000 taking part in 2024 and more expected for 2025.
You can enrol on the website or even download the app for both Android Try Dry: Dry January® & beyond
and Apple TRY DRY: The Dry January app phones!
The aim being 31 days alcohol-free, a break and a total reset for the body and mind with Alcohol Change UK. Sleep better and have more energy, improve your mental health and concentration, look fabulous and get brighter skin, save money and feel an amazing sense of achievement. It’s about you taking a break, living better, feeling better. Starting your new year, the right way.
If you are concerned about your own or someone else's drinking or just wanted to signpost a patient who asks for help they can contact Drinkline for free confidential support on 0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am–8pm, weekends 11am–4pm).
Dry January means going alcohol-free for the whole month using Alcohol Change UK's tools and resources, and that can bring huge, obvious benefits - but the really good stuff is under the surface!
1. What you'll notice
2. On the inside
A month drinking non alcoholic drinks a lot of benefits: In 2018 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.
3. Long-term change
The real magic happens when Dry January is over. Dry January helps people to drink more healthily year-round. The University of Sussex found that six months after Dry January more than 70% of those who take on Dry January the month using the Try Dry app or coaching emails are still drinking more healthily. On top of that, they have boosted levels of well-being and much more besides.
You might think how can this be that just a month off has a long-term impact? Drinking non alcoholic drinks for 31 days shows us that we don’t need alcoholic drinks to have fun, to relax, or to socialise. In turn this 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 fantastic because consuming alcoholic beverages are linked with more than 60 medical problems including liver disease, anxiousness, depressive episodes, high blood-pressure (BP) and even seven types of cancer. In fact, consumption of alcoholic beverages is the biggest contributing factor for death, illness and disability for persons aged 15-49 in the UK. Cutting back on alcoholic beverages in the long-term reduces your possibility of developing these medical problems.
So go on give Dry January a try!
