What three months without alcohol does to your body

To ask anyone coming to the end of Dry January to consider a further two months of abstinence is to risk being chased out of town by a mob of thirsty readers who are even now reaching for that much anticipated first glass.

As a recovering boozy journalist and now (mainly) sober writer, my experience is that one month is mostly pain and not so much gain – and that it’s month two and three that you start feeling like a god and enjoy the health benefits.

According to Ruari Fairbairns, the founder of One Year No Beer: “In the beginning we start to see huge changes in the body, huge changes in the mind, but it’s really early. Why not carry on? Because all the benefits keep going. Think how different you feel from the first of January to January 31. Now imagine multiplying that by three!”

This was my experience. In 2020 I stopped for Dry January and by the end of the month I was starting to feel great after a couple of weeks of bad sleep, jitters and anxiousness which I medicated with herbal supplements. By week four I was starting to enter what they call “the pink clouds of recovery”.

Life felt amazing – and I realised in Fairbairns’ words, “I had been operating at 80 per cent or 70 per cent or 50 per cent so I decided to do another month.” Then by the end of February, I felt even more amazing. So after 30 years in a heavy drinking profession I committed to do a third month, and by the end of March I decided to go for a year. I ended up being completely booze-free for over four years and am only now negotiating occasional drinking (and my jury is still very out on that one).

The bottom line

The annoying reality is that alcohol is “really bad for you, it causes awful medical health problems,” says Dr Jeff Foster, a GP and founder of H3 Health, a clinic addressing health concerns for individuals over 40.

When I first went from being a most days drinker – sharing a bottle of wine most nights, often getting stuck into a second (it’s only now I appreciate that half a bottle a night is enough to have serious health effects and a bottle of wine is your weekly limit) – it was the time of Covid.

Something that struck me then was the reason we were all disinfecting our hands with alcohol was because it directly damages the cell walls of lipid viruses – just as it damages all human cell membranes. The, pardon me, sobering fact is also the reason drinkers get an increase in cancer, in all the places alcohol touches: mouth, tongue, throat, oesophagus, stomach, bowel and on downwards. Blimey, it’s enough to make you reach for a steadying G&T and if like me, you’re the kind of person who has that reaction to stressful news, then perhaps, you’re also the kind of person who could do with a longer reset.

Is three months dramatically better than one month?

“Alcohol is a long-term game, not a short-term one,” says Dr Foster. “So if you’re using Dry January as a way to trick yourself into thinking that somehow you’ve been healthy by not doing something for four weeks, then then that’s crazy.”

Luckily, the body and brain have remarkable powers to bounce back from the damage of regular drinking and “the longer you can reduce unhealthy habits, the better. If you don’t eat junk food every day for a month, and then you go back to eating junk every day, it’s still bad for you.”

David Nutt, a professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London was sacked as the government drug tsar in 2009 for stating that alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than cannabis, LSD, and ecstasy. As well as being a respected researcher he is also behind alcohol alternative Sentia, which aims to give non-drinkers a similar relaxing sociability buzz as booze through the inclusion of neurotransmitter Gaba.

He points out that the increase in gains from three months off, “all depends on how long you have been drinking to excess for: if it has been for many years, then it may take months or years to rectify the damage, but every little bit helps – particularly in relation to lowering blood pressure and healing the liver.”

The brain

Julie Grisel, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Bucknell University and author of Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction is not surprised to hear my experience that in the first 90 days it was the mood and sleep improvements which were nothing short of dramatic.

“Imagine pouring alcohol into an open cut,” she says. “It would sting because pain receptors in the skin signal cell damage, but there are no such receptors in the brain, even though it is much more sensitive to alcohol toxicity.”

Even moderate drinking – three units a day, the equivalent of half a bottle of wine – leads to a reduction in white and grey matter according to the latest research, crucial for efficient neural communication and impairing cognitive functions. While initial improvements in grey and white matter can be observed within the first few weeks of abstinence, ongoing recovery is evident with prolonged sobriety.

“The drug is toxic to all living cells,” says Prof Grisel. “An extended break allows for the very slow process of brain cell recovery.” A 2022 report on 36,000 adults from the School of Medicine at Wharton in Pennsylvania alarmingly found that just one drink a day was associated with a reduced brain size – and two a day with ageing the brain by two years.

Enhances the immune system

Alcohol over consumption also impairs the immune system, increasing susceptibility to infections – which anyone who gets repeated head colds every December party season knows only too well. A review published in the British Journal of Nutrition says that high doses of alcohol directly suppress various immune responses, leading to a higher incidence of infectious diseases. Abstaining from alcohol allows for the recovery of immune function, leading to a stronger defence against illnesses. Improvements in immune response can be observed within weeks but increase dramatically over three months, says a paper published in Alcohol Research: Current Reviews.

Weight loss and metabolic health

Alcohol is calorie dense leading to increased fat round the middle. Abstaining from alcohol for three months can improve insulin sensitivity, stabilise blood sugar levels and lower the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. “Just be careful you don’t replace alcohol with snacks,” says Prof Nutt.

Liver function

In the words of a cheery 2021 paper by the University of Nebraska Medical Centre, “heavy alcohol consumption damages multiple organs/systems.” But, and here’s the good news: “abstinence, in its simplest form, brings about either complete or partial recovery”.

None of the experts I spoke to would go on the record to quantify just how much booze, for how long, would do how much damage to the liver, and how long it would take to recover – because it depends on the individual and whether you binge a bottle of wine in one night or spread it over seven days, as well as on your genes. Virtually all heavy drinkers develop fatty liver – and in the UK that relates to drinking twice the recommended limit, more than 12 pints a week or 12 medium glasses of wine. The good news is that up until the point of irreparable liver damage (just before you get cirrhosis) three months of abstinence can result in “significant improvements in liver function tests and a reduction in liver inflammation.”

Gastrointestinal injury and recovery

Drinking alcohol has been described as like pouring weed killer on your microbiome – the balance of microbes in a healthy gut responsible for much of our physical and mental health and what scientists are now calling, “the third brain”. It is also known to cause a leaky gut, where the lining of the small intestine becomes damaged, allowing undigested food particles, toxins, and bacteria to “leak” into the bloodstream causing inflammation.

But thankfully, recent studies have shown that a three week removal of alcohol can induce a complete recovery from a leaky gut, though it will take longer to restore your gut bacteria. So to help the tummy it’s time for three months off and plenty of sauerkraut, kimchi and kefir.

The heart

The heart is one area where giving up alcohol for three months might be the minimum required for long lasting benefits. Recent studies suggest that even moderate drinking (defined as up to one drink a day for women and up to two for men) may increase the risk of heart disease. Consuming more than 14 pints or glasses of wine a week for men and more than seven for women is associated with an increased risk of heart conditions. Binge drinking, defined as consuming five or more pints or glasses of wine on a single occasion for men, and four or more for women is linked to a higher risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular issues.

But to get things in perspective, a US federal report earlier this year stated that those who drink more than nine drinks a week have a one in 100 chance of dying from their habit.

The Cleveland Clinic says that “prolonged heavy drinking over years can result in alcoholic cardiomyopathy, where the heart muscle weakens and cannot pump blood efficiently, leading to heart failure.” But the European Heart Journal says that six months to a year of abstinence can lead to “substantial improvements in heart function in those affected”. And if high blood pressure is your issue, you should typically see a noticeable reduction after three to four weeks off booze.

Changes in behaviour

All the experts I spoke to were unanimous that a three-month period of abstinence had one overwhelming advantage over four weeks: it led to the development of new habits.

Dr Richard Piper, the chief executive at Alcohol Change UK, said “Many people experience huge benefits from taking on Dry January. These include better sleep, a lifted mood, lower anxiety, more energy, brighter skin, saving money, reduced cancer proteins, some recovery of the liver, and lowered blood pressure and resting heart rate. But Sober Spring, which is a 93-day challenge, is a fantastic opportunity for those who enjoyed Dry January but learnt that they may need a longer sober period to see and feel more of the benefits and fully reset their relationship with alcohol. “

Catherine Gray, the bestselling author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober and co-founder of Sober Spring says: “I strongly believe that three months alcohol-free is the gold standard. I signed up to a 100-day alcohol sabbatical when I first quit back in 2013, and once the 100 days was done, I didn’t want to go back.”

She points to a new meta-analysis of habit formation studies which shows it takes an average of two months to create a new habit. “If you take three months off, you’re going to have to learn how to socialise booze-free. It’s uncomfortable at first, but also crucial if you want to change your relationship with alcohol long-term. Who knows, you might like it so much you don’t want to go back.”

Gray’s experience was similar to many. “For me, the first few weeks were defined by sleeping badly, experiencing shrill social anxiety, feeling flat, and overall noticing few health benefits. It was into months two and three that my sleep started deepening, my skin cleared, my energy lifted, I developed sober social skills, and I started feeling joy doing ordinary things that had been dwarfed by my desire to drink.”

Ruari Fairbairns adds: “Too many people give up before finding the magic. And this is why so many people who do a 90 day challenge end up deciding to go for the year as a longer period of abstention will help them rebuild these neural pathways in our brain, and the associations that to have fun you need booze.”

Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh may seem an unlikely advocate for doing a Dry January, February or March but he says: “I started doing Dry January years ago, which isn’t at all satisfying, then I toughed it out to February. But it’s when you do March that your brain and body really start to reconfigure. Those three months are my favourite time of the year.”

Starting the year with a clear head and fuller wallet might be just the tonic we need as we head further into 2025.