What Happens to Your Body When You Quit Drinking, With Elliot Tapper, M.D.

Dry January can be a powerful reset, giving the liver a chance to recover while helping people become more aware of their drinking habits, but lasting benefits come from carrying those changes beyond the month.

When someone stops drinking alcohol, the liver begins healing almost immediately, but how that recovery feels depends on how sick the liver is to begin with, says Elliot Tapper, M.D., associate professor of gastroenterology and hepatology and academic chief of hepatology at the University of Michigan Medical School.

For many people, the benefits of stopping alcohol show up quickly. Within days (or even sooner) people often notice improved digestion, better sleep and a general sense of feeling better overall. That’s because the liver is no longer overwhelmed by toxins and inflammation. However, for people with more advanced alcohol-related liver disease, recovery can take weeks to months, and symptoms may linger before improvement becomes noticeable.

Tapper notes that the traditional idea that liver disease only develops after decades of heavy drinking is changing. Today, severe liver disease can develop much faster, particularly in people who engage in binge drinking. This rapid progression is increasingly seen in younger adults. Certain groups are at higher risk, including women and people who have had bariatric or other stomach surgery, because the stomach plays a role in breaking down alcohol before it reaches the liver.

Blood tests are often used to assess liver health, but Tapper cautions that normal liver enzymes don’t always mean a healthy liver. Some people with advanced scarring can still have lab results within the normal range. That’s why doctors often rely on additional, noninvasive tools, such as liver elastography (including FibroScan or specialized ultrasound), to measure liver stiffness and detect scarring early.

Risk for liver disease isn’t determined by alcohol alone. Genetics, sex, obesity and diabetes all play a role. Tapper explains that when metabolic conditions like insulin resistance or excess weight combine with alcohol use, the damage can be amplified — a condition now referred to as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease/alcohol-related liver disease (metALD).

Nutrition also matters. For most people, a liver-friendly diet includes fruits, vegetables, lean protein and limiting excess carbohydrates. However, people with advanced liver disease often need a high-protein, high-calorie diet to support healing.

Perhaps most importantly, even when the liver recovers, alcohol use disorder does not disappear on its own. Long-term recovery requires ongoing support, open communication with health care providers, and strategies to manage triggers and cravings. Practices like Dry January can be a helpful starting point, but lasting change often comes from building community, using counseling or medication when needed and developing healthier coping tools.