As Dry January has some people putting down the bottle for the first month of the year, the health benefits of eliminating alcohol are in the spotlight.

But TV personality Kelly Ripa, host of ABC’s "Live with Kelly and Mark," revealed that giving up alcohol had an unexpected effect on her.

On Wednesday’s episode, when Andy Cohen co-hosted alongside Ripa, he brought up that he is "in the middle of dry January."

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"Usually, a little weight loss comes my way after," he commented. "That’s not really happening yet."

Ripa responded that when she quit drinking in 2017, she expected there to be a "windfall of weight loss."

"Because everybody’s like, ‘Well you are going to get too skinny … you can’t afford to lose it,’" she said. "I gained 12 pounds!"

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"I don’t understand this ‘magical weight loss’ that people [imply]," she continued. "I think I just took to eating the sugars … because apparently, alcohol is like a lot of sugar."

In 2020, Ripa revealed to People Magazine that she and her friends decided to try a sober month back in 2017, and that she "liked the way [she] felt."

"Not that I was a heavy drinker — I wasn’t someone who got drunk — but even like two glasses of wine at a girl’s night out dinner, I would feel it the next morning," she said.

"I just didn’t really feel the need or desire to go back to it," Ripa went on. "It wasn’t really a choice or a thought, it was just, ‘Yeah, I guess I don’t drink anymore.’"

Dr. Kathleen Jordan, Midi Health chief medical officer and women’s health and weight management specialist, shared some health benefits of eliminating or limiting alcohol, including reduced cancer risk and weight loss.

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"Less drinking eliminates the hundreds of calories in the drinks themselves (anywhere from 160 to 400 or more calories per drink) and less drinking is often accompanied by less late-night snacking," the California-based doctor told Fox News Digital.

"Less alcohol also helps your body get a good night’s sleep, while bad sleep is associated with weight gain. Alcohol interferes with the ability to reach a deep sleep, which then contributes to daytime fatigue and sluggishness – and ultimately to weight gain."

But limiting alcohol might not pose these benefits for everyone, Jordan noted.

If low or moderate drinkers experience weight gain after eliminating alcohol, the expert said that’s most likely due to substituting drinking with snacking or sugary mocktails.

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Jordan recommended replacing alcohol with different variations of water instead, including bubbly, flat or garnished water, which will satiate "nervous eating" and the habit of drinking.

Dry January also occurs when the climate is cold and dark, with most Americans tending to spend more time indoors. 

To support the benefits of not drinking and prevent weight gain, Jordan advised keeping up with physical activity even during the winter months.

Made a New Year's resolution to get fit and healthy again?

One gym owner says good luck with that — because there's no place for new joiners in the month of January at his venue.

Gym owner Clayton Leah, 31, has been turning away potential new members at his gym, Ascendancy Fitness, even though this is the busiest time of year, he told Fox News Digital in a phone interview on Saturday, Jan. 4. "We stopped sign-ups on New Year's Eve," he said.

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He has a specific reason for his unusual stance, he said.

The purpose is to protect existing gym members and long-time fitness practitioners from an influx of new joiners, he told Fox News Digital.

Often, he said, the eager January newcomers wind up dropping away as their intentions to maintain a New Year's resolution wear off. 

Leah said in part that he did not want "to annoy all of our existing members who have been with us for so long."

He added of his gym's news, "I would hate to focus more on the negative than the positive. The response has been overwhelmingly positive," he told Fox News Digital on Saturday.

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"The majority of people appreciate the fact that we've done this and see why we've done it," he also said. "We've always prioritized our membership experience — it's so important to us."

For those who are criticizing his gym for a "not smart" business move, it's actually "been the opposite," he said. 

"The first priority is our members, and they are highly appreciative of what we're doing," he said. 

"Naturally, we have some inquiries about joining. And I've said this before, but as soon as you take something away from people, then people want it more. But that's not why we've done this." 

"We wanted to try and break the mold," he also told news agency SWNS.

He said he's trying to "take an unconventional approach and protect our existing members – that is the most important thing for us."

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The gym is located in Warrington, Cheshire, in England, roughly halfway between Liverpool and Manchester.

His gym has about 650 current members. It also gives one-time day passes for those who want to work out there. 

Leah said he hopes his gym's decision would encourage people to join the gym throughout the year — rather than just in January, when people are drawn to the venue because of ambitious New Year's resolutions. 

He said the fitness industry "is an amazing industry" and "we're trying to help people with whatever fitness and health goals they have."

The gym owner said the only negative reaction to the blocked memberships had been from those hoping to join. 

He said, "The only negative response people have is a case of ‘I was going to join, but now I can’t.'"

He added, "For those people, I say, ‘Well, you should have joined sooner,'" he told SWNS.

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This is not the first case of gyms or fitness clubs banning new members in January.

Equinox, a luxury fitness club, banned new members on Jan. 1, 2023, as Fox News Digital previously reported. 

It was part of a "We Don't Speak January" campaign to discourage short-term New Year's resolutions and encourage long-term commitment. 

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Certified personal trainer and strength coach Melissa Kendter of Pennsylvania said every trainer’s "main passion" should be guiding others toward leading a healthier lifestyle and building long-term success with sustainable habits, as Fox News Digital also previously reported.

Leah of Ascendancy Fitness said his gym is likely to reopen to new memberships in February, although the gym doesn't have a specific date confirmed as yet.

"Obviously our plan was to avoid the January influx," he told Fox News Digital. 

Angelica Stabile of Fox News Digital contributed reporting. 

A Durham, North Carolina, man has turned his life around after receiving grave medical news. 

Derek Barnett, 55, was diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease 10 years ago, according to a report from SWNS.

At his heaviest, Barnett weighed 240 pounds and was a size 38.

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Barnett, a construction worker who is currently unemployed due to health issues, brushed off his diagnosis, telling SWNS that he "didn’t think anything of it."

"Everybody’s got a type of thing," he said.

But the man's condition worsened, progressing into cirrhosis and eventually hepatocellular carcinoma, also known as liver cancer.

In January 2024, Barnett was given a letter from his doctor that broke some bad news – he potentially had only six months to live if the cancer continued to grow.

"When they gave me that letter last year, it got real," he reflected.

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"That note said, 'If the cancer gets aggressive, you have six months to live.' I saved it, looked at it every day, and it beat me up."

Barnett’s doctors informed him that the best way to regain his health would be to lose weight – and he knew it was time to get motivated and act.

"I was like, ‘OK, we can do this,’" he told SWNS. "I’m a fruit-aholic. I went on a major fruit diet basically."

Barnett began limiting his diet to "very tiny meals" throughout the day, involving lots of his favorite fruits.

"I can eat a whole watermelon in a day, but I also eat apples, oranges and grapes — whatever’s in season," he said.

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"I do protein shakes, too. I’m not a vegetarian, but I don’t eat meat much, because it’s too filling for me."

Barnett recently hit a record-low weight of 164 pounds. He reported that he dropped the pounds by following this diet, and that his "scores are looking fantastic."

"I haven’t weighed this since I was probably 15 years old," he said.

Barnett said he still has work to do in toning his muscles to "catch up to the skin loss," but he continues to push forward.

"My clothes are a little too big and baggy, and it’s hard to afford clothing when you lose weight so quickly, but I feel fantastic," he said.

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Barnett has also kept the weight off by staying active, despite his physical limitations.

"I have osteoarthritis in my right knee and need a knee replacement," he revealed. "I can’t go jogging or do stairs, but I do what I can."

He reported that his workouts usually involve sitting in chairs and "using little dumbbells."

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"I’m nonstop, but I do it without hurting myself," he added. "Losing weight is just [about] staying active, finding anything you can possibly do to get off a couch."

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Barnett told SWNS that he will find out the status of his prognosis in February, and that he hopes to inspire others with his successful weight-loss journey.

 "If I can do this, anyone can," he said. "I’ve done everything the doctors told me to do. It’s about eating right, staying active and never giving up."

"I was 55 going on 90," he went on. "Now I’m 55, going back on 20 again."

Barnett hopes to return to work and live a "full, active life," according to SWNS.

"I want to ring that bell next time I see my doctors and tell them I’ve done it," he said. "This is just the beginning."

Getting a certain number of daily steps has long been known to boost overall health — and now a new study has pinpointed how many you need to keep depression at bay.

A research team led by Bruno Bizzozero-Peroni, PhD, from Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in Cuenca, Spain, analyzed 33 studies involving 96,173 adults.

In comparing the adults’ daily step counts and rates of depression, they found that people with higher daily step counts tended to have fewer depressive symptoms, according to the study findings, which were published in JAMA Network Open last week.

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Getting 5,000 or more steps was linked to reduced depressive symptoms, while a step count of 7,000 or higher was associated with a lower risk of depression, the researchers found.

"Our results showed significant associations between higher numbers of daily steps and fewer depressive symptoms, as well as lower prevalence and risk of depression in the general adult population," the authors wrote in the findings.

"The objective measurement of daily steps may represent an inclusive and comprehensive approach to public health that has the potential to prevent depression."

More than 7% of U.S. adults have been diagnosed with depression, with those between 12 and 25 years old most affected, according to data from the National Institute of Mental Health.

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Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News senior medical analyst, was not involved in the study but commented on the review.

"This is an extensive analysis of over 30 observational studies, so it needs to be followed up with prospective randomized studies," he told Fox News Digital. 

"There is already a vast body of evidence, including this study, that exercise is associated with mood improvement, a natural antidepressant."  

The reason that a higher step count reduces depression isn't only psychological, the doctor said — it's also physical. 

"Exercise increases the release of the ‘happy hormones’ — dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin," Siegel added.

Previous studies have found that walking has effects on brain networks that are essential in improving mood, depression and anxiety, according to Dr. Richard A. Bermudes, a psychiatrist and chief medical officer of BrainsWay in Nevada.

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"The more sedentary we are, or the more we sit, the more depressed we get," Bermudes, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. 

"We also know that there is an incremental benefit to walking — every increase of 1,000 steps per day was associated with a 9% lower risk of depression."

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Genetics, psychological factors and social stressors also play a role in depression, he noted.

"However, we know that natural light exposure, general movement and walking in natural settings or nature have positive mood effects." 

Bermudes encourages those struggling with depression to "take it one step at a time."

"For those with severe depression, try incrementally day after day, increasing by 100 steps each day," he suggested. 

"If you work and are stuck at a desk most days, schedule 15-minute breaks to exercise the brain by taking a walk."

Walking outside is more beneficial, Bermudes added, as it provides natural light exposure.

Fox News Digital reached out to the study researchers for comment.