Alcohol
Recommended amounts
Government guidelines for sensible drinking are:
- Men and women are advised not to regularly drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week.
- Pregnant women are advised that no level of alcohol intake is safe in pregnancy.
- If you drink as much as 14 units a week, it is advisable to spread this over three or more days. If you have one or two heavy drinking sessions each week, this can increase the risks to your health.
The following drinks all have 14 units of alcohol:
- 6 pints of lager (4% ABV)
- 6 medium glasses of red wine (13% ABV)
- 14 single shots of spirits (40% ABV) such as rum, whisky or vodka
The risk of developing a range of illnesses, including high blood pressure and certain cancers, increases if you consistently drink more alcohol than the recommended amounts.
What is a unit of alcohol?
As alcoholic drinks come in different strengths and sizes, units are a good way to tell how strong your drink is.
One unit of alcohol is 10 ml or 8 g of pure alcohol. One unit is equal to the following:
- One single pub measure (25 ml) of spirits (40% ABV)
- One half-pint of normal-strength lager, beer or cider (3.5% ABV)
- One small glass (100 ml) of wine (10% ABV)
- One glass (50 ml) of liqueur, sherry or other fortified wine (20% ABV)
In recent years, the alcohol content of some drinks has increased, with many wines and beers now stronger than they once were. So remember that a drink may be stronger than you think. Remember too that many measures, particularly home measures, are larger than standard sizes.
A more accurate way of calculating units is by the percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV). This is the percentage of alcohol in one litre of the drink.
For example:
- A wine of 14% ABV has 14 units in a litre.
- If you drink 125 ml you have had 1.75 units.
- If you drink 250 ml you have had 3.5 units.
Watching your weight
Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram. These calories usually offer no nutritional value. If you are concerned about your weight, keep the following points in mind:
- Home measures tend to be more generous.
- Check that all mixers and soft drinks are sugar-free or diet varieties.
- Drink ordinary-strength beers, lagers and ciders. Low-alcohol varieties can be higher in sugar and low-sugar versions can be higher in alcohol.
- Alcoholic drinks with high sugar content, e.g. sweet sherry, dessert wines, liqueurs and alcopops, should be drunk only occasionally.
Look at Table 1 below to see the alcohol and calorie content of some common drinks.
Table 1: Alcohol and calorie content of common drinks
Remember: Calories do not equal carbohydrates!
Regularly drinking more than is recommended can increase the risk of serious health problems including certain cancers, liver disease, stroke, high blood pressure and mental health disorders.
Useful resources
Drinkaware is an independent charity that has useful information on its website.
Images used are courtesy of Carbs & Cals.
