What you probably already know: Interest in Dry January is at an all-time high, as an estimated 33% of Americans abstained from alcohol in the first month of 2025. Almost three-quarters of participants completed the entire month, though one in five quit within the first two weeks. “Damp January” (a modified version) is also rising in popularity. The modern version of Dry January has its roots in the United Kingdom, when a woman named Emily Robinson quit drinking for a month as she trained for a half-marathon in February 2011. Its official launch came two years later when nonprofit Alcohol Change UK received a trademark for the phrase Dry January and began to sublicense it to countries across the globe. However, Finland celebrated its own “Sober January” in 1942 to help in its battle against the Soviet Union in World War II.
Why it matters: Alcohol significantly impacts many of the health issues women disproportionately face (think heart disease, breast cancer or dementia). For menopausal women, alcohol can intensify hot flashes and night sweats, further disrupt sleep and can make symptoms such as mood swings and anxiety worse, according to Bonafide Health, a New York-based company that manufactures supplements and devices for menopause and women’s health. It also increases the risk of osteoporosis and weight gain. One study in the United Kingdom found that it even increases the risk of dry eye disease in women but not in men.
What it means: Research shows that women are drinking more and deaths from heavy alcohol consumption are rising, with the mortality rate for women up 35% over the past decade compared to 27% for men. Deaths from alcohol-associated Hepatitis nearly tripled among women between 1999 and 2020. “The United States knows what works to reduce harmful drinking and its consequences, yet the country has some of the weakest alcohol policies among high-income countries,” says Juan Pablo Arab, M.D., director of alcohol science at Virginia Commonwealth University. “That failure comes at a steep cost, not only in health care spending but in human lives.”
What happens next: A Gallup poll last summer found that the percentage of adults in the U.S. who say they consume alcohol fell to 54%, the lowest since it began tracking drinking trends in 1939. The perception of drinking is also changing: For the first time, a majority of Americans also said even moderate consumption is bad for one’s health, and those who do imbibe report drinking less. Research from Brown University shows that even a short-term break from booze can lead to physical and psychological improvements. “Overall, participating in Dry January allows people to pause, reflect and rethink their relationship with alcohol, including how it affects their social life, mental health and physical health,” says Megan Strowger, who led the study as a post-doctoral fellow and is now a research associate at the University at Buffalo. “Most participants continue to drink less alcohol.” January isn’t the only month when breaks from booze are encouraged. There’s also Dry July and Sober October.
