Health

Your liver after a month without alcohol: what the NHS says

Fatty liver can usually recover when you stop drinking. Later damage is harder to undo. The facts, from the NHS and the British Liver Trust.

Updated 8 November 2026Researched by the Thirty Days Sober team

Your liver after a month without alcohol: what the NHS says — Photo: Envato Elements

The NHS describes alcohol-related liver disease in three stages. The first, fatty liver, often has no symptoms, and the NHS says the liver can usually recover if you stop drinking. In the second, alcohol-related hepatitis, the liver may be able to recover from some of the damage. The third, cirrhosis, cannot usually be reversed.

The British Liver Trust says drinking more than 4 units a day will lead to some build-up of fat in the liver, and that stopping completely for a period of months or years lets the liver recover.

What one month can show

In the Royal Free study published in BMJ Open, the researchers measured liver function tests alongside blood pressure, weight and insulin resistance before and after a month off. They chose drinkers without known liver disease.

ONS figures show 9,809 deaths from alcohol-specific causes in the UK in 2024. The British Liver Trust notes alcohol-related liver disease is the leading cause of liver deaths in the UK.

After the month

Both the NHS and the British Liver Trust give the same guideline: no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days. The British Liver Trust also recommends two to three alcohol-free days a week, ideally together. If you have been drinking over the guidelines for months, ask your GP about a liver check.

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