What do you consider a safe weekly alcohol consumption?
Poll: What do you consider a safe weekly alcohol consumption?
Total Members Polled: 213
Discussion
What do you think a safe alcohol consumption is for a person?
The NHS recommends 14 max, many people will have a bottle of wine a night, 70 units a week.
I’ve always had a couple of beers after work but now retired I’m starting to think I should cut down, I do have a couple of days a week without a beer but I still probably have 40-50 units a week.
Units per drink for reference
Lager 2 pint
Beer 2.5 pint
Wine glass 3
Wine Bottle 10
Large short 2
The NHS recommends 14 max, many people will have a bottle of wine a night, 70 units a week.
I’ve always had a couple of beers after work but now retired I’m starting to think I should cut down, I do have a couple of days a week without a beer but I still probably have 40-50 units a week.
Units per drink for reference
Lager 2 pint
Beer 2.5 pint
Wine glass 3
Wine Bottle 10
Large short 2
Edited by tight fart on Thursday 21st December 09:50
I don't really drink anything other than red wine , the odd G&T here and there or single bottled beer but the wine was around 3/4 bottle to a bottle most days. Seen the Dr recently and my cholesterol is 7.3 and by Bp around 140/80 so changes are afoot and the booze seems to be the easiest thing to change quickly.
I very rarely drop below 14 units a week but probably rarely go over 30. Next week may well be an exception as is a particularly sociable weekend.
I'm absolutely OK with this amount. To be honest I don't really think about my intake. I drink as much as I want. It just happens to be generally more than 14 and less than 30.
The days of aiming to get bladdered are long gone as the recovery time is too great.
I wouldn't say I have any dependency although the beer when I get home from work and a bottle of vino at the weekend are a bit of a habit. Not that it concerns me.
I'm absolutely OK with this amount. To be honest I don't really think about my intake. I drink as much as I want. It just happens to be generally more than 14 and less than 30.
The days of aiming to get bladdered are long gone as the recovery time is too great.
I wouldn't say I have any dependency although the beer when I get home from work and a bottle of vino at the weekend are a bit of a habit. Not that it concerns me.
My BP was high so the doc asked me to take readings in the evening and morning every day for 2 weeks.
I immediately stopped drinking, microwave meals, salt, takeaways and just cooked from fresh. Only chicken or fish with mainly rice.
BP dropped from dodgy to high normal within 2 days.
A week in and by Saturday I treated myself to 3 bottles of ale, and on the Sunday, 3 small glasses of wine.
Those two evenings my BP was healthy low as were the mornings after.
Monday back to no drinking and BP back to high normal.
Had some booze the next weekend and my BP went down again.
Have I found a cure?
14 units a week is virtually teetotal and you'd might as well give up. It's about a small glass of wine a night. Pointless
I immediately stopped drinking, microwave meals, salt, takeaways and just cooked from fresh. Only chicken or fish with mainly rice.
BP dropped from dodgy to high normal within 2 days.
A week in and by Saturday I treated myself to 3 bottles of ale, and on the Sunday, 3 small glasses of wine.
Those two evenings my BP was healthy low as were the mornings after.
Monday back to no drinking and BP back to high normal.
Had some booze the next weekend and my BP went down again.
Have I found a cure?
14 units a week is virtually teetotal and you'd might as well give up. It's about a small glass of wine a night. Pointless
tight fart said:
What do you think a safe alcohol consumption is for a person?
The NHS recommends 14 max, many people will have a bottle of wine a night, 70 units a week.
I’ve always had a couple of beers after work but now retired I’m starting to think I should cut down, I do have a couple of days a week without a beer but I still probably have 40-50 units a week.
Lager 2 pint
Beer 2.5 pint
Wine glass 3
Wine Bottle 10
Large short 2
40-50 units a week! You can't ever hardly be legal to drive. The NHS recommends 14 max, many people will have a bottle of wine a night, 70 units a week.
I’ve always had a couple of beers after work but now retired I’m starting to think I should cut down, I do have a couple of days a week without a beer but I still probably have 40-50 units a week.
Lager 2 pint
Beer 2.5 pint
Wine glass 3
Wine Bottle 10
Large short 2
tight fart said:
many people will have a bottle of wine a night, 70 units a week.
My wife is one of those people. Never used to drink in the house at all, then had the odd glass with dinner, now it's a full bottle every night. Never any more or any less. She's a busy mum of 2 who works a director level job and sees it as her way to de-stress and get a good nights sleep.. even though I know it's probably having the opposite effect. I'd like her to cut back for her long term health, but it's also not cheap !I rarely during during the week but do have a few on a friday and saturday and often on a sunday. Tend to only start after 5pm and will have a few beers then share a bottle of wine. I do sometime have a bit too much probably. I think it makes me heftier but I don't think it is bad for my health. Problem is it becomes a bit of a habit. So not havgin the weekend drinks would be a challenge, although I managed last weekend as I was ill.
Edited as that’s not what I drink it’s the units per drink, edited now. I know conventional wisdom once said the odd glass of red was actually good for you, but I think that has now been debunked and any alcohol consumption is detrimental to your physical health. Whether it is beneficial to you mental health, by allowing a more enjoyable social life is of course debatable and depends a lot on one's peers and lifestyle.
I work with a lot of 20-somethings, and I have to say that compared to my 20s, they drink a lot less (or at least, a lot less often). There are a few who are teetotal, which was unheard of when I was that age. I think drinking culture, like smoking and fry-up breakfasts, is dying out.
I still have the odd drink, but rarely, and only usually when pressured due to some occasion or other and I don't want to come across as a miserable bugger.
If it was just me I'd happily stop altogether, as even one drink seems to effect me the next day. Not hungover, but definitely not operating at 100%.
I work with a lot of 20-somethings, and I have to say that compared to my 20s, they drink a lot less (or at least, a lot less often). There are a few who are teetotal, which was unheard of when I was that age. I think drinking culture, like smoking and fry-up breakfasts, is dying out.
I still have the odd drink, but rarely, and only usually when pressured due to some occasion or other and I don't want to come across as a miserable bugger.
If it was just me I'd happily stop altogether, as even one drink seems to effect me the next day. Not hungover, but definitely not operating at 100%.
The Lancet April 2023
"..the absolute risks of light to moderate drinking are small, and while there is no known safe level of drinking, it seems reasonable that the quality of life gained from an occasional drink might be deemed greater than the potential harm."
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanrhe/article/...
"..the absolute risks of light to moderate drinking are small, and while there is no known safe level of drinking, it seems reasonable that the quality of life gained from an occasional drink might be deemed greater than the potential harm."
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanrhe/article/...
Normally about 6 cans of lager on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, don’t really think about it during the week but come 8 o’clock Friday night and the first one is open, don’t know if it’s more habit as it’s something that I have always done.
Hardly ever drink wine and the only time that I would drink shorts is on holiday then only a couple.
I think the problem is that if I have a beer that I want more, the total opposite to the wife who is quite happily to have a single glass of wine or gin & tonic then drink soft drinks.
Hardly ever drink wine and the only time that I would drink shorts is on holiday then only a couple.
I think the problem is that if I have a beer that I want more, the total opposite to the wife who is quite happily to have a single glass of wine or gin & tonic then drink soft drinks.
I used to love it and drank lots with wild abandon weekends and holidays until I had a health scare (diverticulitis) which was made far worse after alcohol.
I read a few quit lit books and haven’t drunk in five years and don’t know if I ever will again. A close family member became a raging alcoholic around the same time and it terrified me, I had no idea how dangerous it can be.
Quite seriously it is as bad a drug as any and it now annoys me how it’s rammed down our throats. When I drank I would not of thought this way though and fully appreciate I’m a hypocrite!
I read a few quit lit books and haven’t drunk in five years and don’t know if I ever will again. A close family member became a raging alcoholic around the same time and it terrified me, I had no idea how dangerous it can be.
Quite seriously it is as bad a drug as any and it now annoys me how it’s rammed down our throats. When I drank I would not of thought this way though and fully appreciate I’m a hypocrite!
JackJarvis said:
tight fart said:
many people will have a bottle of wine a night, 70 units a week.
My wife is one of those people. Never used to drink in the house at all, then had the odd glass with dinner, now it's a full bottle every night. Never any more or any less. She's a busy mum of 2 who works a director level job and sees it as her way to de-stress and get a good nights sleep.. even though I know it's probably having the opposite effect. I'd like her to cut back for her long term health, but it's also not cheap !sawman said:
Alcohol is a poison, there is no safe limit.
but the odd one probably wont hurt. 50 units a week probably not good in the long term
bottle of wine a night to " de stress" points to a bigger underlying issue to me
Your first sentence (bold) is absolutely laughable! Someone else said the same ridiculous comment on here some months back.but the odd one probably wont hurt. 50 units a week probably not good in the long term
bottle of wine a night to " de stress" points to a bigger underlying issue to me
No safe limit?
In moderation, like anything, there is little harm. Like fast and crap food, 'in excess' you'll see a problem - we have it now, the most 'obese' nation in Europe.
You do realise (obviously not!) that almost 'anything' can be a 'poison' ...IF taken in excess.
In fact, that excess can be even less with something far more easily accessible than alcohol.
I'll take you back to the 90s when we were on holiday in Nicosia. It was 'very warm', touching 40 deg by the pool. One of our friend's sons (he was 18 at the time) became almost paranoid about the heat and it being 'too hot' so he drank, not alcohol, wait for it...
good old fashioned ..WATER!
On this particular day he had quickly downed several bottles of it (well, it was handed out 'free' in the hotel complex where we stayed).
I still recall him collapsing as we were looking up at a statue of Archbishop Makarios. He was rushed to hospital. Long story short, he survived. The doctors told us he had 'Water poisoning'. Yep, good ol' water, like alcohol, is very safe in 'moderation'. Not so much in 'excess'.
I'm old enough to recall me drinking my dad's bottle of Guinness he was given 'FREE' by the NHS after he left hospital (he'd suffered his first heart attack!). Why did I drink it? My dad was a bitter (beer) man and didn't like stout! I also remember my gran got given a 'free' bottle of Guinness each time she gave blood. If I recall correctly, they gave Guinness 'free' to pregnant mothers in Ireland.
Funny, eh?
Yeah, stuff changes. Let's get up to date...
Obviously, the good ol' NHS does not advocate 'alcohol' as a health benefit anymore. In fact, it's hard to find reference to it, but ask anyone 'old' and they'll remember it. Funny, eh, if you drink sensibly (ie: in moderation) you'll find most of us are still here today!
Today the good ol' NHS would never advocate anything bad for you would they?
But they do, they advocate 'Artificial Sweeteners' over sugar.
Me? Give me (real unrefined) sugar ANY DAY over something 'artificial' going down my gullet! I've never knowingly put any artificial sweetener inside me, ever, but thousands do everyday with their 'diet' crap drinks. Give me a bottle of beer any day over a 'diet' coke.
Yep, I still drink alcohol like millions do. But in 'moderation'. I think this week so far I've had just 2 bottles (2 pints) of beer (Guinness, of course!) -
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