Try Dry January and call time on booze for next 31 days

Time to take it easy, give your body a break, look forward to a fresh start – try Dry January.

The no-alcohol-for-a-month campaign started 11 years ago with 4,000 people. It’s come a long way since then, with more than 175,000 taking part last year.

The springboard for the event was the decision by Emily Robinson to sign up for her first half marathon in 2011. It was due to take place in February and to make training easier she gave up booze in January. She lost weight, slept better and had more energy.

Everyone wanted to talk to her about what it’s like to give up drinking for a bit and the interest increased when she went to work for Alcohol Change UK and gave up drinking for another January.

The first Dry January kicked off with Alastair Campbell talking about his past drinking.

In 2014 an article in the New Scientist suggested that ditching the booze can have an effect on your body as well as your mind.

"What you have is a pretty average group of British people who would not consider themselves heavy drinkers, yet stopping drinking for a month alters liver fat, cholesterol and blood sugar and helps them lose weight. If someone had a health product that did all that in one month, they would be raking it in,” said Professor Kevin Moore, consultant in Liver Health Services, University College London Medical Centre.

One of the other benefits of committing to Dry January is saving money – why not put the cash you would have spent on a bottle of beer, wine or spirits in a savings account?

The key success is recording your progress – if you are not ready for a month-long alcohol abstinence try forgoing booze for a few days a week.

Swap your usual alcoholic drink with alcohol-free alternatives. Alcohol-free beers, ciders, wines, and spirits are available.

Fore mire information on Dry January go to: https://alcoholchange.org.uk/