Drinking more healthily

Photograph of full pint glassIt's scary to hear but most people who have alcohol-related health problems aren't alcoholics... They're simply people who have regularly drunk more than the recommended levels for some years.

By regularly drinking above the NHS's recommended daily limit of alcohol, we are at a risk of damaging our health; there's no guaranteed safe level of drinking, but if we drink below the recommended daily limit, we can reduce the risk to our health.

The NHS recommends:

  • Men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units a day.
  • Women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day.

'Regularly' means drinking these amounts every day or most days of the week.

What's a unit?

  • Pint of 4% lager = 2.3 units
  • 175ml glass of 13% wine = 2.3 units
  • 25ml glass of 40% single spirit and mixer = 1 unit

Units are a standard way to indicate the alcohol content of any given drink. To get an idea of how many units you drink, use the NHS' Unit Calculator www.drinking.nhs.uk/questions/unit-calculator/

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