Understand it

Dry January, does it work and how many people do it?

By GyroscopeUpdated November 15, 20267 sources

Dry January works better than its reputation. In a survey of 1,000 US adults, about 6% said they finished Dry January 2025 without a drink. In a study of 857 people who signed up, drinking was lower six months later, even for those who didn’t make it all month. And a month off moved blood pressure, weight and insulin resistance in moderate to heavy drinkers.

Dry January gets mocked as a fad, a month of virtue before everyone goes back to normal in February. If that’s all that happened, it wouldn’t do much. The research says something more interesting: a month off tends to reset the habit, and very few people make up for it afterward.

How many people do it?

In a survey of 1,000 US adults run in November 2025, 5.7% said they took part in Dry January 2025 and didn’t drink all month. Another 2.5% tried but drank. And 50.6% said they don’t drink at all, which is its own trend: Gallup’s 2025 poll had the share of US adults who drink at 54%, the lowest in nearly 90 years of asking.

Does it change anything after January?

In a British study published in 2016, 857 adults who signed up for Dry January filled in questionnaires before, after one month and after six months. Six months later, as a group, they were drinking less and felt more confident turning down a drink. That was true even for people who didn’t finish the month, though the change was bigger in those who did. Very few drank more afterward. The people most likely to succeed were the ones who had been drunk less often in December.

It was a study of volunteers, with no comparison group who didn’t take part, so it can’t prove the month caused the change. But it does put to rest the worry that a dry month leads to a February binge.

What a month does to your body

In a 2018 study, doctors compared 94 moderate to heavy drinkers who chose to take a month off with 47 who carried on. Before the month, the dry group averaged about 258 g of alcohol a week, about 18 US drinks. After it:

The group that kept drinking saw no change. The researchers checked that diet, exercise and smoking didn’t explain it.

You’ll likely see it on your wrist first. In a 40-person smartwatch study, nighttime resting heart rate rose from 63.6 to 66.6 beats a minute over three drinking nights and was back near 64.9 in the three dry days after. What happens when you stop drinking for a month? has more.

How to get through it

• Pick your replacement drink now. The 6pm glass is a habit, and habits need a substitute. The best non-alcoholic drinks has a shelf.
• Write down your reasons and keep them on your phone. NIAAA suggests rereading them when an urge hits.
• Change the trigger. If the urge comes at the same time every day, fill that slot with something else.
• Have your “no thanks” ready. The faster you say it, the easier it is.
• If you slip, keep going. In the 2016 study, people who didn’t finish still drank less months later.

Then what?

February is the useful part. You’ll know what your sleep, mornings and heart rate look like without alcohol, and you can decide what you want back. Many people keep some dry weeks, or a few dry nights a week. If you still want to drink has how to keep the cost small, and ways to stop or cut back has what works if a month showed you more than you expected.