Everything that happens to your body after not drinking alcohol for a month

For those of you who actually stuck to it: congrats on completing Dry January.

While I’m sure some of you will be keen to hit the pub for a pint this week, others may be feeling inspired to keep up the sobriety or perhaps at least decrease their alcohol intake.

And it’s pretty understandable, giving up drinking for even a month can do you a fair bit of good – who knew?

Your body undergoes a whole load of changes when it doesn’t have the stuff streaming through it, with great changes to your health, usually both mentally and physically.

So, if you’re feeling smug with your tee-total month completed, here’s a list of all the things that tend to happen to you after going those weeks sober.

It's not exactly a secret that the liver and alcohol are hardly friends (Getty Stock Image)

Skin

Well, one of the first things you might notice is a change to your complexion.

Reducing, or cutting out, the booze means your body is able to freely produce heaps of the anti-diuretic hormone vasopressin, which gives your skin a nice glow.

And that's not all, less alcohol also allows your pores to to shrink, meaning fewer spots.

Liver

It will come as no surprise to many of you reading this that overdoing it with the beer and wine, etc., is not exactly great for your insides.

The liver is where the contents of your trip to the pub have to be broken down, and depending on the amount you've drunk during the sesh, it can be a tough ask.

However, if you give it a little break, even just a few weeks, you can drastically reduce something called liver ‘stiffness’, an early sign of liver disease, which can, in the most extreme of cases, develop into cirrhosis.

Giving up drinking can help improve blood pressure (Getty Stock Image)

Brain

After a week of no booze, once you get through the initial cravings and withdrawal, you tend to see some general improvements to your day-to-day life, including better sleep quality, better decision-making, and you might even notice that you feel more creative.

Blood pressure

Drinking too much booze can seriously weaken the muscles in your blood vessels, causing them to become narrower.

This in turn makes it more difficult for your heart to get blood around your body, increasing your blood pressure, which can cause a whole host of issues such as the risk of a stroke as well as heart and kidney disease.

But the good news is that if you’ve been abstaining, you can notice a drop in your blood pressure in as little as four weeks.

Well, who knew drinking less could be good for you... (Getty Stock Image)

Cancer

Studies have found that going sober can also help reduce the risk of a person developing several forms of cancer, such as mouth, breast, bowel and liver.

Immune system

Consuming too much alcohol can give the immune system a good kicking, meaning you're more susceptible to germs and bugs going around the office.

And with this cold weather, that could be pretty useful.

Now, to decide what your future drinking habits will look like.

Please drink responsibly. If you want to discuss any issues relating to alcohol in confidence, contact Drinkline on 0300 123 1110, 9am–8pm weekdays and 11am–4pm weekends for advice and support.