Dry January week-by-week benefits revealed as 215,000 Brits ditch booze
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Can giving up alcohol for the next month – otherwise known as Dry January – make a real difference to your wellbeing?. It’s just 31 days, after all. How much can that really change?. Quite a lot, it turns out. Taking a month off from alcohol offers major benefits for your wellbeing, even if you don’t plan to keep up your sobriety once the month is done.
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In fact, you can see benefits just a week into the challenge (which you can track using this app). In 2024, 215,000 Brits officially signed up to the official Dry January challenge organised by Alcohol Change UK, but the actual number of people who stop drinking alcohol for the month is likely to be much higher. And with the rise of the so-called ‘sober curious’ (those who express interest in drinking less), the number taking part in 2025 is set to be the biggest yet.
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Here are the week-by-week benefits of committing to Dry January:. Priory Group’s addictions expert Dr Niall Campbell explains that within a week of ditching alcohol, your sleep will improve. This is because getting drunk means you typically fall straight into a deep sleep and skip the important rapid eye movement (REM) phase, giving you one to two cycles of REM sleep rather than the recommended six to seven cycles a night.
![[woman refusing drink]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1348212767.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
It’s worth noting that in the first week of Dry January you might find it harder to drift off – but while you might get fewer hours of rest they’ll likely be of a higher quality. Alcohol use influences sleeping patterns and it can take time to adjust to a normal sleep cycle that isn’t induced by booze. Plus, withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety and restless legs may keep you up at night.
