How dry January really does work

IT is good news for the virtuous souls who had a ‘dry January’ at the start of the year.

Giving up alcohol for a month really can improve your health, cutting cholesterol by 13 per cent, blood pressure by six per cent and helping to lose weight.

Critics of dry January say there is no proof it works, or that it might encourage people to drink more the rest of the year.

But the first study into cutting out alcohol found signs it reduces the risk of diabetes and alcohol-related illnesses.

Researchers led by University College London recruited 141 moderate to heavy drinkers and asked 94 to give up drinking for a month. The results, reported in New Scientist, showed an improvement in health indicators among those who abstained but the researchers warned that the ‘durability of the effects’ had not been established.