Dry January is a concept that originated in the UK in 2013, and it’s pretty clear what it’s about: eliminating alcohol from our lives for the whole month of January in order to detoxify our body from alcohol toxins and give it a healthy break.

The holiday season is traditionally an alcohol-oriented period where alcoholic beverages -eggnog, wines, champagne- are extremely popular and available, and people prefer them during the holiday celebrations.

So, in order to let our body recover from the over-consumption of alcohol, a concept like Dry January may be a good idea.

Indeed, this concept started to have more and more supporters who believe that it can help their bodies restore from the alcohol they consumed during holiday festivities and that it can have long-term health benefits.

However, Dry January could hide some little traps that you may not have noticed.

Short-term discomfort

If you are a regular drinker, meaning that you enjoy a couple of glasses of wine during the week, then if you don’t have it for a week or so, you may start feeling irritated or extremely sensitive. It’s normal, and sometimes the only thing you want is a glass of wine and chilling alone or with your loved ones. I don’t feel like feeling like this during the first month of the year, since it’s supposed to be the month we are full of motivation and ready to seize the year. Any kind of discomfort is not welcome.

Potential Health Issues

Even if the goal of Dry January is to “clean” our bodies from the impact of alcohol, for people who may suffer from addiction, going cold turkey may have the opposite results and could lead to serious health issues. Also, according to experts, the rebound effect can be a serious risk. If someone has an addiction, it’s sure that there should be other methods and techniques to eliminate the addiction and those should be performed by consulting an expert on the matter. It’s better not to try non-secure methods alone.

Unrealistic Expectations

While a Dry January could be the start of a new, healthier year, it’s also the wrong way to set lifestyle expectations, which could backfire in the long run. Suppressing ourselves to do something for just a month can probably end up to February, when we will over-consume alcohol; therefore, all the “effort” we made during January wasn’t worth it.

If your goal is to make lifestyle changes this year, a short-term goal like Dry January might not contribute to healthier habits. Let’s keep in mind that long-term success, no matter what the goal is, involves gradual, sustainable changes rather than abrupt shifts for a brief period.

Even though the whole concept of Dry January is for a good reason, the long-term impact of this “challenge” is vaguely shown, and it’s not proven that it can have essential health benefits in the long run.

If we really want to change our relationship with alcohol, it’s better to understand how much we drink, why we drink, and what would be the ideal frequency and quantity of alcohol to consume in order not to burden our bodies and well-being.