Dry January: how a month of abstinence from alcohol affects your body

In Switzerland, as in many other (European) countries, the consumption of alcohol is considered good manners. A glass of wine in good company or a beer after work is not only socially tolerated, but almost desired. Anyone who’s ever had to justify why they don’t want to raise a glass knows that – after all, a glass “hasn’t hurt anyone.”

According to the Federal Office of Health (BAG), a healthy adult man can drink two glasses of alcohol per day and a healthy adult woman one glass. “A glass” means a pint of beer, a glass of wine or a glass of schnapps – ie the equivalent of 10 to 12 g of pure alcohol. According to Sucht Schweiz, the annual consumption of pure alcohol per capita in 2020 was 7.6 liters. How much alcohol is safe for a person depends on gender, age, health status, and other factors.

Four in five Swiss people have no problems with alcohol – but one in five develops problem drinking behavior and drinks alcoholic beverages too much or too often. Whether someone is addicted to alcohol needs to be reassessed from person to person and by a specialist.

However, the following points may be indications of this: loss of control over the amount and regularity of consumption, increasing amounts of alcohol and constant thoughts about the addictive substance.

Risk consumption is when the person drinking puts themselves or those around them at risk by consuming alcohol. A distinction is made between chronic and incidental risky use.

It is considered chronic if you regularly drink two (if female) or four (if male) or more alcoholic drinks per day. Episodic risk consumption describes the consumption of at least four (if female) or five drinks (if male) within a few hours if this occurs at least once a month.

Women generally tolerate alcohol less well than men because their bodies have fewer enzymes that can break down alcohol.

Dry January is a global challenge not to drink the first month of the year. Those who participate can win prizes and there is an app that guides you through your abstinence. In addition to quitting alcohol, it’s also about fundamentally questioning your drinking and thinking about when and how you drink.

Alcohol Change UK, a British charity and action organization, founded Dry January.

The challenge is particularly suitable for people who want to regulate their consumption a bit or for those who want to take a break from alcohol after a month full of business drinks and Christmas parties. For fairly moderate but regular users, a break can have many benefits, but more on that later.

People with a serious alcohol problem should not participate in Dry January – they may experience dangerous withdrawal symptoms that require medical supervision and care. Such withdrawal symptoms include insomnia, sweating, nausea, depression and even hallucinations.

Excessive alcohol consumption has a harmful effect on the liver, pancreas, heart, nervous system and muscles. It also increases the risk of developing cancer – especially in the mouth and throat area, esophagus, intestines and mammary glands. The risk of dementia and impotence also increases with increased alcohol consumption.

Depending on how much alcohol someone drinks on average, the effects of Dry January are stronger or weaker:

If you really do drink too much, it is better to reduce your consumption than to eliminate it completely – this way behavior can be changed in a more sustainable way. If you stop completely and then go back to your old patterns or drink even more after a month, you haven’t really benefited from the challenge.

However, in principle, it makes sense for everyone to give the body a break from alcohol and actively deal with its consumption. In addition, the majority of the participants indicated that they still drank less after the end of the month than before.