How Much Alcohol Can I Responsibly Consume?

Across the world, health organisations and medical professionals have outlined how much alcohol an individual can responsibly consume over the last few decades.

Yet, one of the most commonly asked questions regarding alcohol is “how much alcohol can I responsibly consume?”.

Determining how much alcohol an individual can responsibly consume is somewhat tricky.  This is because the number of units that can be safely consumed depends upon various factors such as age, weight and sex.

If you are hoping to find out how much alcohol can be responsibly consumed, we have provided a wealth of information here.

If you are concerned that either yourself or a loved one regularly drinks over the recommended amount of alcohol units, we would encourage you to contact us.

Frequently consuming large quantities of alcohol could highlight that an undiagnosed addiction is impairing either yours or a loved one’s life.

Alcohol Units

In 1987, the British Government introduced alcohol units to the public to help them control the amount of alcohol they consumed on a regular basis.

However, understanding alcohol units can be somewhat perplexing.  This is because different types of alcohol will contain different amounts of units.  As a rule of the thumb, one unit of alcohol consists of ten millilitres (7.9 grams) of alcohol.  For most drinks, this equates to around three units of alcohol per drink.

To help you understand how many units are typically found in alcoholic drinks, we have provided a wealth of information below.

• A glass of red, white, or rose wine consists of between 1.6 units and 3.3 units of alcohol.  Small glasses contain 1.6 units, while large glasses will contain 3.3 units of alcohol.
• A bottle of red, white, or rose wine usually contains ten units of alcohol.
• Beer, lager and cider each contains between 1.8 units and 4.5 units of alcohol.  The strength of the alcohol and the size of the drink will dictate the number of units.
• Other alcoholic drinks such as cocktails, mixers and alcopops will contain differing units depending on the alcohol’s strength.

Alcohol Units and Guidelines for Safe Consumption

As alcohol units were introduced, the Government advised the public on how many alcohol units can be safely consumed on a daily and weekly basis.

However, determining how many units of alcohol an individual can responsibly consume is not as simple as it sounds.  As touched on above, various factors dictate how many units an individual can responsibly and safely consume.

At present, the NHS states that men and women should not drink more than 14 units of alcohol per week.

Although this is the guideline set out by the NHS, it should be noted that due to the various factors that determine how many units of alcohol can be responsibly consumed, men can consume more units of alcohol each week than women.

For example, women are advised not to drink more than two or three units of alcohol each day.  This typically equates to drinking no more than one standard size glass of wine.

On the other hand, men are advised not to drink more than three or four units a day, which is equivalent to drinking a pint of lager, beer or cider.

Alcohol Intake

When reviewing the number of units that can be responsibly consumed on a daily and weekly basis and determining how many units are found in various alcoholic drinks, it is clear to see that many individuals will often consume over the recommended amount of units.

Although various laws have been implemented and unit recommendations have been provided to the general public for quite some time, 27% of the Great British public regularly drink over the recommended number of units.  This regrettably sees them classified as binge drinkers.

In addition, it is believed that over half a million people in England abuse alcohol and have unfortunately become dependent on alcohol.

Considering this, if you frequently consume more than your recommended units of alcohol on a daily and weekly basis, you are at a much greater risk of overconsuming alcohol and eventually becoming dependent on alcohol.

Alcohol Laws

In addition to recommended units being advised, upon asking yourself “how much alcohol can I responsibly consume?”, it is essential to consider that various alcohol laws also dictate how much alcohol can be responsibly consumed.

For example, legal drink-drive limits determine how much alcohol an individual can responsibly consume before driving.  Although it is highly ad

vised that you do not drink and drive, in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the drink-drive limit is set at 35 micrograms per 100 ml of breath.

Whether you’ve reached this limit or not depends on your weight, gender, age, metabolism and what you’ve eaten during the day.

Alcohol Abuse and Addictions

If you often abuse alcohol or binge drink, you are, as highlighted above, at much greater risk of developing an addiction to alcohol. You are also at greater risk of struggling with various health complications that are linked to alcohol consumption.

Although you may not believe that you will develop an addiction or health complication by drinking over the recommended units of alcohol, in the last ten years, there has been a 60% increase in the number of people requiring hospital treatment for liver disease, heart disease, alcohol-related accidents, mental health disorders and other illnesses.

Although treatment is available, in some instances, alcohol-related illnesses cannot be alleviated completely. With this in mind, we would encourage you to contact us if you are struggling to control your relationship with alcohol.

Contact Cassiobury Court For Support and Guidance

Although we are sure that the above information will answer your question of “how much alcohol can I responsibly consume?” if you would like to find out more about how you can responsibly consume alcohol, at Cassiobury Court, we can provide you with the guidance you are looking for.

Likewise, if you frequently consume over the recommended amount of alcohol units or have found yourself becoming reliant on alcohol, we can offer you support and treatment if we believe that it is necessary at our private drug and alcohol rehab.