Best Tips and Facts to Drinking Responsibly

How Much Alcohol Is Too Much Alcohol?Being British, I know just how much we love to go out and have a drink so its no wonder the UK has been officially named as “The drunkest nation on the planet”.There are two types of drinkers in this world. Number one is the stay at home and has a couple of glasses of wine a night whilst cosying up in front of the TV and Number two is your don’t really drink during the week but at the weekend go out and get thoroughly plastered beyond walking and all recognition. This is also known as binge drinking.It is a common misconception that those who “only drink at weekends” are in far better health than those who have a small drop each day of the week. According to research this simply isn’t true, mainly due to the fact of much higher levels of toxicity and that there tends to be much more consumption control when we drink small amounts with our evening meals and it also allows the liver to build up a tolerance and know what to expect and how to process it.The Binge DrinkerBinge drinkers tend to go out on a Friday or Saturday night and drink themselves silly. When we do this some people tend not to know their limits and be completely oblivious to the number of units they have put into their bodies in a single night. In addition to this, the amount can vary from week to week meaning a big fluctuation in the levels of toxicity.So What Are The Recommended Guidelines For Men and Women?Alcohol is measured in Units and guidelines from various health organisations to make the following recommendations. Both men and women should consume no more than 14 units per week.So how many units are there in different alcoholic drinks?According to the NHS, this is the alcohol content for most drinks and is as follows:- ABV = ALCOHOL BY VOLUME.A single small shot of spirits * (25ml, ABV 40%) 1 unitAlcopop (275ml, ABV 5.5%)1.5 unitsA small glass of red/white/rosé wine (125ml, ABV 12%)1.5 unitsBottle of lager/beer/cider (330ml, ABV 5%) 1.7 unitsCan of lager/beer/cider (440ml, ABV 5.5%) 2 unitsPint of lower-strength lager/beer/cider (ABV 3.6%) 2 unitsA standard glass of red/white/rosé wine (175ml, ABV 12%)2.1 unitsPint of higher-strength lager/beer/cider (ABV 5.2%) 3 unitsLarge glass of red/white/rosé wine (250ml, ABV 12%) 3 unitsHow do we know when we are drinking too much? 1. You set limits but can’t stick to them. If you set yourself limits and find yourself exceeding it. This could be the first sign of a problem.2. Your friends comment on your drinking. Take note of friends and acquaintances if they make comments about how much you drink or how well you handle it.3. Most of your plans and intentions involve alcohol. When drinking starts to take over your social activities and home life can be risky and start to become habitual.4. Worrying yourself about your own drinking. We all question the next morning why we drank so much so this isn’t uncommon, however, how much of a regular occurrence is it?5. Stress in your life is causing you to drink. We all suffer from stress in our lives and each deal with it in different ways. Alcohol for some people is the perfect but wrong escape and coping mechanism.6. You’ve been given medical advice that your consumption is too high. We often get asked by doctors what our consumption is. Whilst some people think it’s ok to lie and be in denial, doctors’ advice can be very valuable.Alcohol-Related IncidentsAccording to Alcohol Change UK, In 2018/19 in England and Wales, the area in which people perceived the greatest problem with people being drunk or rowdy in public places was Northamptonshire (19%), followed by London and the West Midlands (18%) and Cambridgeshire (17%). The places in which the fewest people perceived this problem were Cumbria (4%), Nottinghamshire (5%), and Suffolk and North Wales (6%)In 2017/18, in 39% of violent incidents, the victim believed the offender to be under the influence of alcohol.In 2017/18 in England and Wales, in 24% (39,000 incidents) of robbery cases, the victim believed the offender to be under the influence of alcohol. This figure increased from 17% or 25,000 cases in 2015/16.In 2016/17 in England and Wales, 12.4% of theft offenses, 20.6% of criminal damage and 21.5% of hate crimes were alcohol-related.In England and Wales, alcohol-related violent incidents are more likely to be reported to the police than those which are not alcohol-related.In 2016/17 in England and Wales, in 35.8% of sexual assault cases, the offender was under the influence of alcohol.In 2017/18 in England and Wales, victims of partner abuse reported that the offender was under the influence of alcohol in 17% of incidents.In 2015/16 in England, victims believed the offender(s) to be under the influence of alcohol in 39% of all violent incidents, down from a peak of 55% in 2009/10. In Wales, the figure is higher, at 49% in 2015/16, down from a peak of 73% in 2006/07.In 2014-2016 in England and Wales, alcohol-related violent incidents made up 67% of violent incidents which take place at the weekend and 68% of those which take place during the evening and night.In 2014-2016 in England and Wales, 91% of violent incidents which took place in or near a pub or club were alcohol-related, and 67% of those which took place in public spaces were alcohol-related.In 2017/18 in Scotland, in 46% of violent crime incidents, the offender was under the influence of alcohol.In 2018 in Great Britain, there were 8,700 drink-drive casualties and 5,900 drink-drive accidents. In the long-term, these figures have been falling since 1979 from a peak of around 31,000 casualties and 19,000 accidents.