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" Dry January, a campaign run by the charity Alcohol Concern, encourages participants to abstain from alcohol for the first month of the new year, an opportune time when resolutions are at the forefront of our collective minds. The campaign has been growing in popularity over the last few years with over 2 million signing up in 2015, and even more estimated to have taken the no booze vow this year.    Alcohol Concern says that Dry January is aimed at the &amp;quot;social drinker&amp;quot;, to get them thinking about how much alcohol they&amp;#039;re consuming in their daily lives. But beyond encouraging us to become more consciously aware of our drinking habits, is going dry for a month enough to actually impact on health? Jackie Ballard, Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern, believes it is:  &amp;quot;Since we launched Dry January 4 years ago, we have ensured that our behaviour change campaign is evaluated to check that it really does work in the long term, not just for the month of January. Our research has shown that by not drinking for a month participants felt more energised, were sleeping better, and some had lost weight. We have also found the campaign had a positive effect on behaviour change, with 67% people drinking less 6 months after completing Dry January 2015.&amp;quot; Research carried out last year by a team at University College London, monitored 102 relatively healthy men and women in their 40s taking part in the Dry January campaign. The women had been drinking an average of 29 units of alcohol a week (the equivalent of about 10 large glasses of wine), and the men were typically on 31 units, both above government guideline levels, but considered a &amp;quot;normal&amp;quot; intake.  The aim of the study was to determine the effect of one-month abstinence on various health parameters associated with alcohol consumption and the results were striking: after four weeks &amp;quot;liver stiffness&amp;quot; (an indication of damage and scarring of the liver) had been reduced by 12%. Significant reductions were also observed in cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Insulin resistance, a measurement of type 2 diabetes risk, had come down by 28%. These findings remained significant taking into account lifestyle factors including age, gender, diet, exercise, smoking and stress. Those who took part in the month of abstinence also lost weight, and reported improvements in their sleep and concentration levels.  Professor Kevin Moore, who co-authored the study, said that public health bodies should be &amp;quot;very interested&amp;quot; in these findings, but that more work was now needed to establish the lasting effects of abstinence beyond four weeks.  Dry January&amp;#039;s critics But even if the improvements to health and wellbeing are significant, is a month of going cold turkey the best approach? Critics of Dry January say that it might give out the wrong message, suggesting that a month of abstinence does away with the need for regular breaks from drinking. Vowing not to touch a drop of alcohol can make it easier to fall off the wagon, and may also encourage participants to have a complete blow out once the month is out. The consistent advice from the UK government is to have several dry days a week, and many experts believe this to be a less drastic and more sustainable approach.   It remains to be seen whether further research will confirm sustained health benefits of a month off the booze. However, for those of us who consider ourselves to be &amp;quot;normal&amp;quot; drinkers, these findings and observations indicate that our drinking habits could be having more of an impact on our health than we may realise.  More than 9 million people in England drink more than the recommended daily limits, according to statistics from Alcohol Concern (2011). And with new guidelines published just last week lowering the upper recommended limit to 14 units a week (the equivalent of just 4 large glasses of wine) for men as well as women, this figure is now likely to be much higher.  Whilst a period of abstinence from alcohol may be proven to have considerable health benefits, it might actually be the fact that it encourages us to review our overall drinking habits, that holds more significance to our long-term health.    Like this? Get more healthy living advice delivered straight to your inbox with our newsletter:  &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span id=&amp;quot;selection-marker-1&amp;quot; class=&amp;quot;redactor-selection-marker&amp;quot; data-verified=&amp;quot;redactor&amp;quot;&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/wellbeing/news/a26093/should-you-do-dry-january/>