Many people consider themselves to be moderate drinkers. In reality, they are drinking more than the low-risk guidelines.
The Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines for both men and women are:
- to keep health risks from alcohol to a low level it is safest not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis
- if you regularly drink as much as 14 units per week, it is best to spread your drinking evenly over 3 or more days
- if you have 1 or 2 heavy drinking episodes a week, you increase your risks of death from long term illness and from accidents and injuries
- the risk of developing a range of health problems, including cancers of the mouth, throat and breast, increases the more you drink on a regular basis
- if you want to cut down the amount you drink, a good way is to have several drink-free days each week
The likelihood of alcohol damaging your health depends on how much you drink: 14 units is the equivalent of 6 pints of beer (4% ABV), 6 medium size glasses of wine (13.4% ABV) or 7 double measures of spirits (40%).
If you drink less than 14 units a week, this is considered low-risk drinking.
View the full UK Chief Medical Officers’ Low Risk Drinking Guidelines.