Dry January: What a month without alcohol really brings

The most important facts summarized for you:

• Dry January is a conscious break from alcohol for a month after the food- and drink-intensive Christmas period
• Dry January originated in the UK when Emiliy Robinson was preparing for the half marathon
• Dry January brings various benefits, for example more energy, better sleep and more ability to concentrate

The alcohol-free month greets us every 12 months. January is not only the start of a new year, but also the end of a month of gluttony. Especially in the last few months of the year, alcohol consumption is not neglected with the best will in the world.

Christmas cookies, festive roasts, raclette, lots of chocolate and even more delicious mulled wine, craft beer, sparkling wine or whatever else you enjoyed over the holidays. No wonder many people long for a break for the body. So why not give up alcohol for the first month of the year?

Where does Dry January even come from?

The idea of Dry January actually comes from the UK. It all started there with Emiliy Robinson. The Englishwoman was preparing for her first half marathon in 2011 - and therefore gave up alcohol for four weeks the month before, in January to be precise. The response was great: she was asked everywhere about her voluntary abstinence.

A collaboration with the British organization Alcohol Change soon emerged and the Dry January movement grew: at the start of the campaign in 2013, 4,000 people abstained from alcoholic beverages for an entire month. A good eight years later, not only around four million Brits are joining in; France and Switzerland are also calling for a dry January - and the trend is also becoming increasingly popular in Germany.

Dry January: often works well with friends in a group - just like sport

What are the benefits of a dry January?

Not drinking alcohol for a whole month has many benefits. According to a study by the University of Sussex, which examined some Dry January participants in 2018, abstinence has positive effects.

Benefits of Dry January:

• Better sleep
• More energy
• Healthier attitude to life
• Better complexion
• Weight loss
• Better concentration

But it's not just health that benefits from a dry January. The vast majority of the almost 800 respondents found that they had fun without alcohol and also developed a healthier relationship with their alcohol consumption.

The wallet is also happy: 88% of those surveyed stated that they saved money during Dry January. Best of all, many of the participants surveyed were still consuming less and more consciously six months later - and therefore benefited from their temporary abstinence far beyond January.

Better health, more money, a positive attitude to life - if those aren't good reasons to give up alcoholic drinks for a month.

To help you enjoy your alcohol break anyway, we have put together a fine selection of our best alternatives to alcoholic drinks: non-alcoholic spirits alternatives such as gin or whisky, aperitifs, non-alcoholic beer and the all-time alcohol-free friends in a glass of coffee and lemonade.

Dry January: Alcohol-free alternatives

We naturally have a variety of non-alcoholic drinks on offer for you all year round. The trend towards non-alcoholic drinks has been going on for several years now.

In addition to the small selection of alternatives above, you can find an overview here for Dry January and beyond to help you consume less alcohol:

• Non-alcoholic beer - the classic not only in dry January
• Alcohol-free gin - for a delicious alcohol-free gin and tonic
• Non-alcoholicwine - for wine drinkers to enjoy
• Alcohol-free rum, whisky, vodka, aperitif & co - for alcohol-free cocktails

You're sure to find a suitable drink for your Dry January party here.

Through January with non-alcoholic alternatives

The best way to approach Dry January

We have a few tips to help you stay motivated for your Dry January right up to the last day and feel as many positive effects as possible:

Tips for Dry January:

Find a community

Whether you ask your brother, your best friend, your football club, a Facebook group or your TikTok followers - it's easier together. You can share your experiences and support each other.

Write something to yourself

Not everyone is a fan of diaries. Nevertheless, it can help to record your thoughts, observations and wishes for the time after January. Some things only become clear to you when you write them down.

Don't bury yourself at home

Abstaining from alcohol for a month does not mean not leaving the house for a month. The point of Dry January is to consciously enter into situations - and to choose the alcohol-free alternative over the drink on offer.

Don't catch up

To make sure you enjoy the positive effects for a long time to come, you shouldn 't "catch up" on all the alcoholic drinks you didn't drink in January in February. Take your time - you're guaranteed to find a suitable occasion for your favorite cocktail in March or September.

Pour yourself a drink!

Even if you give up alcohol in your dry month, that doesn't mean that only water and kidney tea will end up in your glasses ! Use this time to explore the exciting world of non-alcoholic drinks: For example, mix your way through the endless recipes for non-alcoholic cocktails. Or try new coffee variations, lemonades, non-alcoholic beers and wines or delicious gin alternatives.

How much alcohol is safe?

Despite all the concerns and good reasons for not drinking alcohol, it is important to remember that alcohol is a natural product. It is produced during the fermentation of sugar. This also happens, for example, if you leave a banana lying around for a long time. As soon as it turns brown, yeasts in the air start to convert the fructose into alcohol.

According to doctors, small amounts of alcohol of less than 0.3% by volume in food are generally harmless as long as it is not consumed regularly with food and drink. You can imagine that this is about as much as is produced by the natural fermentation of an apple or banana that has been left lying around for a long time.

Even in the form of "real" alcoholic beverages, as we understand them, alcohol consumption in small quantities is considered safe for healthy adults. As an approximate rule of thumb, you can remember the recommended limits:

• Women: 0.3 liters of beer or 125ml of wine per day
• Men: 0.5 liters of beer or 250ml of wine per day

Overall, however, you shouldn't drink a drop of alcohol on at least two days a week - the more the better, of course. Of course, you should bear in mind that these rules of thumb and general recommendations are difficult to apply to everyone. After all, every body and fitness level is different. And also the attitude to enjoyment and the associated risks.