Are you drinking too much booze?

Alcohol can be highly detrimental to our health, so why are so many of us ignoring the consumption advice?

When we think of “binge drinking”, we often associate it with bottomless brunches, where unlimited booze flows for a set time period, or those nights out at the pub when we end up wobbling home after a “big session”. But what’s really classed as binge drinking might come as a surprise to many of us.

While there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a tipple, experts advise us to drink less than 14 units a week, with a 750ml bottle of wine setting us back 10 units. For women, drinking more than six units in one sitting is considered binge drinking. For men, it’s eight units – the equivalent of around four pints – consumed in a single session, according to Drinkaware.

A lot of social gatherings are centred around enjoying a drink, while phrases such as “gin o’clock” and “it’s 5pm somewhere” are often used in marketing. This focus on alcohol may lead to us binge drinking without even realising it, but the effect this can have on our health is worrying, particularly for middle-aged women.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), women under the age of 45 are now dying more than ever before from alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD).

Sandra Parker, sober coach at Just The Tonic Coaching, says, “A lot of people drink six units alone, or a bottle of wine at the weekend, and don’t really consider it binge drinking. People don’t realise it because it’s so normal, and we don’t know the danger. It’s often not until people start worrying about their health that they take action.”