Plus, how to turn up your detox potential for the most impact
More people than ever are joining Dry January, a temporary pause from alcohol to help detox and reset your body in the new year.
Giving your body that break can benefit your health in many ways. And as an added bonus, its effect on gut health can be dramatic.
In this post you'll discover everything you need to know about Dry January, plus you'll get a gameplan for how to best support your body's detox systems.
The Story of Dry January
The current version of Dry January, a month off from drinking alcohol, started up in England in 2013.[1] It was inspired by Emily Robinson, who decided to go dry as she was preparing to run a half marathon. She shared her story and it became an official campaign in the UK, aiming to encourage others to skip alcohol for one month.
The campaign has grown and gone worldwide over the years. It’s gained popularity, especially among younger adults. Now millions of Americans participate in the challenge; around 25% of American adults completed Dry January in 2024. And participation seems to be on the rise.
Why Alcohol Is so Harmful to Your Health
Ever felt sick to your stomach after drinking alcohol? Nausea… vomiting… abdominal pain… diarrhea… indigestion?
That happens because alcohol can cause damage as it moves through your digestive system. Having one drink can trigger extra stomach acid production[2], and that can lead to stomach irritation.
All drinking alcohol contains ethanol, the component that makes you feel intoxicated. As that gets broken down, it creates toxins in your body.[3]
And that can be hard on your entire digestive tract.
So even though Dry January lasts just one month, giving the body a break from alcohol can deliver significant health benefits, the biggest of which can show up in your gut.
That’s because alcohol—even small amounts—takes a toll on your gut health in three critical ways.
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1. Alcohol can change the bacteria makeup in your gut microbiome.
When your gut is in healthy balance, beneficial probiotic bacteria greatly outnumber pathogens. Alcohol can shift that balance, leading to a condition called dysbiosis where pathogens dominate.[4,5,6] Research shows that dysbiosis is a root cause of many diseases[7] from IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)[8] to diabetes[9] to cancer.[10]
2. Breaking down alcohol creates toxins.
Your digestive system has to break down everything you eat or drink, and gut bacteria play a huge role in that process. Gut bacteria metabolize (break down) alcohol into components called metabolites, including a toxin called acetaldehyde[11] that can damage or kill beneficial gut bacteria. It can also damage cellular DNA, so cells can’t repair themselves when they’re harmed.[12] Alcohol and its by-products also cause inflammation in the gut, contributing to both leaky gut and gut barrier malfunction.[13]
3. Alcohol can cause leaky gut.
Your gut is lined by a protective mucosal barrier. That gut barrier selectively allows nutrients and other beneficial compounds (like antioxidants) to enter circulation while keeping pathogens and toxins locked securely inside. Alcohol-derived toxins like acetaldehyde can eat away at that protective barrier and weaken it, causing leaky gut and letting harmful substances escape into circulation.[14]
Participating in Dry January helps reduce the toxic load on your gut, giving it a chance to find equilibrium and not only support your body’s digestion and ability to detox, but your overall health.
How to Set Yourself Up for Dry January Success
If one of your New Year’s goals is to participate in Dry January, there are steps you can take to ensure its success. It can seem daunting to go alcohol-free for a month, so putting some supports in place from the jump can help you reach the finish line.
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Download the free Try Dry app. You can use it to set goals, track your progress, and see how many calories and how much money you’re saving by participating.
Remove temptation wherever you can. Get rid of any alcohol in your home. Try to avoid going anywhere you normally associate with drinking, or make a plan to sidestep alcohol while there. - Line up support and accountability. Tell your friends and family about your Dry January intentions and plans. Try to enlist a Dry Buddy to share this experience with you; if you live with another person (friend, roommate, spouse/partner) they would be a great person to ask, that way you can remove all temptation from your home and really help each other stay accountable. Additionally, ask supportive people in your life to check in with you regularly to help you stick to your plan.
- Create a substitute list. Mocktails (alcohol-free cocktails) make great substitutes for the alcoholic versions. Sparkling water and non-alcoholic beers and wines (as long as they’re truly 100% alcohol-free) can also work well in social situations. (We also love these recipes for making at home: “Sleepy Girl” Tart Cherry Mocktail and “Secret Ingredient” Holiday Mocktail.)
- Reward yourself. Take the money you save by skipping alcohol during the month and use it to buy yourself something special. This treat will help keep you motivated and reinforce your success.
Having all of this support already in place will make it that much easier to cross the Dry January finish line and meet your goal.
Make the Most of Your Bonus Detox Time
Participating in Dry January gives your body a chance to detox and start the new year with a clean slate. You can boost those benefits by taking a few supportive steps.
- Stay well hydrated. Drinking plenty of water helps your body process toxins and get rid of them more efficiently.
- Prioritize sleep. Your cells—especially brain cells—rely on sleep time to carry out repair and maintenance tasks. Slow wave sleep in particular promotes toxin removal from brain cells.
- Exercise regularly. Physical activity supports detoxing in several ways such as increasing circulation and oxygenation, boosting lymphatic system activity for effective waste removal, and sweating out toxins.
- Load up on supportive foods. You can multiply the health benefits of your Dry January experience by adding foods that support detox into your daily diet. Include foods that contain antioxidants like coffee, dark chocolate, berries, cherries, and pomegranates, just to name a few. Probiotic-rich foods like yogurt, pickles, kombucha, and sauerkraut can also be supportive. In addition, try to limit sugar and processed food as much as possible.
And, whether or not you decide to participate in Dry January, there are two crucial things you can do to support your body’s detox systems—your immune system and gut microbiome—and overall health.
Antibodies Help You Detox
Your body has its own natural detox plan: your immune system. It’s always searching for threats like infectious microbes and toxins led by a special group of immune fighters, antibodies—also called immunoglobulins.
There are a few types of immunoglobulins, and the biggest group by far is immunoglobulin G (IgG) which constantly patrols on the front lines. Once IgG antibodies notice and identify a toxin like acetaldehyde, they neutralize it, bind to it, and safely escort it out of your body.[15]
Unfortunately, the world is full of toxins—including alcohol and its metabolites—and that can overwhelm your natural immunity. Then, your body’s detox defenses may need some backup to keep you healthy.
You can support your internal detox system with serum-derived bovine immunoglobulins. These IgG supplements work the exact same way as the antibodies your body produces, sharing the burden.
These clinically studied IgG supplements provide reinforcements to keep you safe against threats.[16] Research shows that serum-derived bovine immunoglobulins bind to and neutralize toxins, just like your own IgG, to keep you and your gut healthy.[17]
Probiotics Promote Beneficial Bacteria and Barrier Strength
Your gut microbiome contains trillions of bacteria, beneficial probiotics and harmful pathogens. When it’s in healthy balance, a diverse population of probiotic bacteria vastly outnumber pathogens. But when dysbiosis strikes, the numbers flip and pathogens dominate. And that dramatically changes how your gut microbiome works.
In a well-balanced gut, beneficial bacteria play an important role in making sure all sorts of toxins get removed quickly.[18] Dysbiosis interferes with the detox process. That means toxins linger longer in your body, which can leave you feeling sick and sluggish.
Dysbiosis also gives pathogens a chance to attack the gut barrier. But when diverse beneficial bacteria flourish, they attach to the gut barrier and crowd out pathogens. Beneficial bacteria also produce special compounds that support the strength and integrity of the gut barrier.[19]
The best way to support a thriving gut microbiome full of beneficial bacteria is with spore probiotics. Unlike other types of probiotic supplements, spore probiotics have a protective shell that helps them survive the journey through your digestive tract and reach your gut alive and ready to work. Once they get to the gut, spore probiotics can:
- keep pathogens under control
- create a positive environment for native beneficial bacteria
- produce essential vitamins, including B vitamins and vitamin K
- produce antioxidants that your gut can absorb on site to combat free radicals
Whether or not you practice Dry January, spore probiotics and serum-derived bovine immunoglobulins can help you head into the new year with a healthy gut.
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- Mackus M, et al. Proceeding of the 8th Alcohol Hangover Research Group Meeting. Curr Drug Abuse Rev. 2016;9(2):106-112. doi: 10.2174/1874473709666161229121527. PMID: 28034278; PMCID: PMC5515685.
- Mendes BG, Schnabl B. From intestinal dysbiosis to alcohol-associated liver disease. Clin Mol Hepatol. 2020 Oct;26(4):595-605. doi: 10.3350/cmh.2020.0086. Epub 2020 Sep 11. PMID: 32911590; PMCID: PMC7641547.
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- Bishehsari F, Magno E, Swanson G, Desai V, Voigt RM, Forsyth CB, Keshavarzian A. Alcohol and Gut-Derived Inflammation. Alcohol Res. 2017;38(2):163-171. PMID: 28988571; PMCID: PMC5513683.
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