Experts warning over common mistake people make after completing Dry January

Dry January is over and somewhere around 15 million Brits gave it a go this year, which is a staggeringly impressive amount of people.

They gave up alcohol for a month and hopefully managed to stay the course all the way through January so they could finish the month with the health benefits you get from not drinking.

If you want to keep things going it's worth listening to some of the advice LADbible has gathered from people who've benefitted from reducing their alcohol intake or going sober entirely.

For some people who've made it this far the time might be ripe to reassess your relationship with alcohol, as those who've been in your shoes before have said they were surprised at the changes binning the booze had on their lives.

Meanwhile, if you're thinking that now you've completed Dry January it's time to get back out to the pub like nothing happened that may not be the best idea.

Do you really want to drink as much as you used to? (Getty Stock Photo)

According to the Express, health experts Trevor Connor and Griffin McMath have a warning for those who completed Dry January and now plan to carry on as if nothing happened.

Connor said: "If you just do it for a month and then go back to the way you used to drink, I don't think you're going to see any of the long-term benefits. If you maintain it, you will.

"You're going to see reductions in inflammation. Getting inflammation down in our bodies is really important for us, that has an impact on almost every chronic disease. I think you're going to see a lot of benefits for the microbiome of your gut, but that's something that you need to sustain.

"If you go back to drinking regularly, the microbiome changes very rapidly. So it's just going to go right back to where it was."

If you go right back to old habits then those health benefits will be undone. (Getty Stock Photo)

McMath added that Dry January 'isn't meant to be a time where you just empty out your body of alcohol so that it can prepare itself for taking on more at a later date'.

"This isn't like taking a pail and scooping water out of your boat. It's meant to be not just a reset, but a pivot," the expert added.

Indeed, going right back to your previous levels is unlikely to produce any long term results so in effect you'll have done Dry January for nothing.

Those health improvements you're just starting to feel will be swept away if you simply return to high levels of alcohol consumption.

You don't have to give up entirely, but now might be a good time to think about changing your habits.