Giving up alcohol for a month can feel like a daunting feat.
But Dry January is pretty much over and if you’ve made it this far then you have probably felt the benefits.
Approximately 15.5 million Brits planned to take part in Dry January this year, according to Alcohol Change.
Many will have noticed improved sleep, glowing skin, slimmer waistlines and may be motivated to keep going.
But what actually happens inside the body when you quit booze?
With the help of top experts, MailOnline has discovered the impact of being tee-total on your body’s tissues, from the moment you take your last sip.
For instance, within just a few days the alcohol begins to clear from the bloodstream, boosting mood, digestive health and helping you fight off infections.
After a month, you’ll see reduced cholesterol and weight loss. All this eventually leads to a dramatic drop in the risk of chronic diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes.
Dry January could give you healthier skin, better sleep and even help you lose some weight
And within a few months, you’ll see brighter, more energised mornings and cut the risk of seven cancers and liver disease, according to Karen Tyrell, CEO of charity Drinkaware.
One to 10 minutes…
Drinking enough alcohol to feel moderately drunk will trigger a cascade of bodily changes.
When you drink booze, it enters the stomach and intestines (or bowel), before it is absorbed into the bloodstream via the stomach and bowel lining.
When the level of alcohol in the blood reaches a point at which a person is intoxicated, their blood vessels will constrict significantly — leading to a rise in blood pressure.
At this point, the booze has also flooded the brain’s reward system. The hormone dopamine surges, resulting in feelings of euphoria and inhibition.
But alcohol simultaneously suppresses another brain chemical — glutamate — which is responsible for brain activity and energy levels, leading to a slowing down of thoughts and feelings.
This imbalance prevents brain cells from communicating with each other properly, and causes them to shrink, which slows reaction times. This is why drinkers find themselves suffering a lack of coordination and balance.
Then there’s the effect on your bladder, which may be more noticeable once you stop drinking.
Alcohol is a diuretic: a substance that blocks the signals sent by the brain to the kidneys, which tell them to hold water. This makes fluids run faster through the bladder.
Experts in addiction point out that those with alcohol misuse problems usually see a particularly extreme surge in anxiety as soon as they put down the glass.
‘They get anxious about how they’ll feel when they don’t have alcohol in their system, or how the process is going to work,’ Luke Worsfold, an addiction counselor at Lisa Inside Addiction in the UK, previously told DailyMail.com.
Approximately 15.5 million Brits planned to take part in Dry January this year, according to Alcohol Change
One hour…
Alcohol makes its way to the liver via the bloodstream, where it begins to be broken down by an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH).
As the toxin is neutralised, blood vessels dilate — get larger — leading to a significant drop in blood pressure.
The drop in blood pressure benefits brain cells too, improving the delivery of nutrients to the organ which betters communication between different areas.
Slurring stops, balance improves, and your mind will start to feel clearer.
Depending on the quantity of food drinkers have eaten throughout the day, they start to gradually sober up after an hour.
Eight hours…
Most people will find themselves especially sleepy within four to eight hours of the drinking session stopping.
That’s because alcohol triggers the release of brain chemicals that have sedative properties.
Yet, if you have been drinking you probably won’t get the best nights sleep, you might wake up hungover feeling nauseous, tired or irritable the morning after drinking.
But once you quit and say goodbye to hangovers, you can expect to feel refreshed.
‘If you stop drinking completely, one of the first things you notice should be better sleep and finding it easier to wake up in the morning’, says Ms Tyrell told MailOnline.
That’s because alcohol disrupts an important stage in the sleep cycle.
Ms Tyrell said: ‘Although some people find drinking alcohol helps them get to sleep more quickly, it disrupts the important Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage of sleep, leaving you feeling tired the next day — no matter how long you stay in bed.’
Another reason alcohol impacts sleep is due to its effect on body temperature. The dilation of blood vessels causes an increase of warm blood close to the skin surface, triggering night sweats that can wake you up.
‘When you typically wake up in the morning, you notice that you’ve been sweating throughout the night. Your bedsheets may be wet, or you may notice your quilt or your mattress being a bit wet,’ Mr Worsfold said.
No more hangovers will mean no more feeling nauseous, tired or irritable the morning after. Instead, you can expect to feel refreshed after getting a good nights sleep
12 hours…
After 12 hours, alcohol has left the bloodstream completely — and detection tests like breathalysers can no longer detect the toxin. Blood vessels have shrunk back to their normal levels.
‘Once the liver has filtered alcohol from the blood, it can start to return to its other functions,’ Rachael Richardson, dietitian and founder of Nutrolution, told MailOnline. This includes digestion and metabolising vitamins and minerals.
Dopamine begins to drop to unusually low levels, which can cause some lingering sadness.
For those with alcohol dependency, this can be a particularly worrying time.
People struggling with alcohol addiction will likely start having more severe withdrawal symptoms, including tremors and seizures.
‘The withdrawal symptoms will start to get a bit worse as the alcohol and your liver work to detox the body and to get rid of all of the alcohol,’ Mr Worsfold said.
An alcoholic may have withdrawal symptoms because their bodies have built up a tolerance to the toxin. Without alcohol, their bodies go haywire to compensate.
For the casual drinker, the full effects of dehydration (due to alcohol’s diuretic effects) are felt at this point. Otherwise known as a hangover, expect fatigue, weakness, thirst, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vertigo, and sweating.
The NHS recommends that adults drink no more than 14 units each week — that’s 14 single shots of spirit or six pints of beer or a bottle and a half of wine
Three days…
While alcohol is mostly out of the bloodstream by this point, it remains in the digestive system, where it can cause symptoms like constipation and pain for up to several days.
Alcohol can hamper the gut microbiome, a network of bacteria and other microorganisms that live in the digestive tract and can help us fight infections as well as regulate appetite.
However, alcohol can destroy good bacteria while feeding bad bacteria.
This growth of bad bacteria leads to stomach pain, constipation, and high stomach acid.
About two days after you stop drinking, alcohol has fully cleared from the body, which causes the bloodstream and kidneys to go back to normal function.
And within another two to three days, bowel movements return to normal. Constipation, diarrhoea, and pain ease.
‘The stomach acid reduces or comes back to normal levels, your body starts to reset, all of the acidity from all the alcohol sort of calms down, and your stomach starts to return to normal,’ Ms Richardson said.
Improved sleep, glowing skin, slimmer waistlines are just some of the benefits of Dry January
One week…
Alcohol is a depressant and can worsen anxiety, so going sober can also improve your mental health.
Chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin return to normal levels after about seven days, leading to better mood and more energy.
‘Regular drinking interferes with chemicals in the brain that are vital for good mental health’, says Ms Tyrell.
She added: ‘So, while you might initially feel relaxed after a drink, alcohol can contribute to feelings of depression and anxiety.
‘Not drinking makes feelings of stress and anxiety easier to deal with.’
Two Weeks…
Avoiding booze for a couple weeks could also leave your skin glowing.
Drinking can dehydrate the skin, leaving it looking bloated, dull and dry.
This means that giving it up can boost appearance and leave skin looking healthier, says Ms Tyrell.
That’s because alcohol is a diuretic — meaning it encourages the body to pass urine. When you drink your skin misses out on fluid and nutrients needed to stay healthy.
Additionally, alcohol can trigger flare ups of psoriasis, a condition which causes flaky skin, and rosacea, which causes redness on the face.
Whether you are quitting or just limiting the amount you drink, you will notice your skin looking brighter the more hydrated it is.
Regularly drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week — equivalent to six pints of beer or 10 small glasses of wine — without any drink free days harms your liver.
Drinkaware warns that this can cause jaundice, a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes, which is a sign of severe alcohol related liver disease.
A pint of beer contains more than 200 calories and a standard 175ml glass of wine is more than 150 calories, according to the NHS. So ditching booze for a month will help you lose some weight if you usually drink a lot
Three weeks…
It is no surprise that quitting booze will help you shed the pounds.
You can even see the benefits on your waistline after just a few weeks without booze.
Alcohol contains about seven calories per gram — that’s equivalent to the calories in pure fat.
A pint of beer contains more than 200 calories and a standard 175ml glass of wine is more than 150 calories, according to the NHS. This is equivalent to a glazed doughnut or two chocolate digestives, respectively.
‘If you’re overweight and regularly drink alcohol, you should find that your weight falls noticeably after you stop’, says Ms Tyrell.
She added: ‘A typical pint of lager contains the same number of calories as a slice of pizza, and a large glass of wine the same as an ice cream sundae.
‘Therefore, not drinking makes it easier to maintain a healthy weight.’
Alcoholic drinks such as wine and beer also contain additional calories from the sugars and starch in the drink.
But these extra calories are considered to be ’empty calories’, meaning you do not get any nutrients from these calories, making it very easy to put on weight.
Fourth week and beyond…
Alcohol has been linked with seven different types of cancer including bowel cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer and mouth cancer.
So, giving it up has a huge impact on your health.
It reduces your risk of cancer and liver disease, according to Drink Aware.
Stopping for just one month will give your liver the chance to start repairing itself and regenerate its cells.
‘Even though the liver is a resilient organ which can recover after damage, the risks of developing liver cancer or cirrhosis of the liver starts at low levels of drinking and increases the more you drink’, says Ms Tyrell.
‘Stopping drinking or giving your liver a regular break can allow it a chance to repair, but the less you drink the more you reduce your risk.’
The liver usually filters toxins from the blood, regulates sugar and cholesterol and helps to fight infections and disease.
So, giving it a break from booze can leave it to get on with it’s functions instead of having to filter alcohol, experts say.
Although the liver is resilient, each time it filters alcohol some of the liver cells die, according to the NHS.
The more alcohol you drink the harder it makes it for the liver regenerate new cells.
Some damage to the liver from drinking is irreversible, for example cirrhosis of the liver, where the organ has become scarred. But going sober can still prevent further damage and illness, the NHS says.
