The Chief Medical Officers' guideline for both men and women states that: 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's best to spread your drinking evenly over three or more days. If you have one or two heavy drinking episodes a week, you increase your risk of long-term illness and injury
The risk of developing a range of health problems increases the more you drink on a regular basis. If you wish to cut down the amount you drink, a good way to help achieve this is to have several drink-free days a week.
How much is 14 units of alcohol?
One unit is 10ml of pure alcohol. Because alcoholic drinks come in different strengths and sizes units are a good way of telling how strong your drink is. It’s not as simple as one drink, one unit. The new alcohol unit guidelines are equivalent to six pints of average strength beer or six 175ml glasses of average strength wine.
If you would like help tracking your drinking and require advice on how to drink within the recommended limits, download a free app Drinkaware: Track and Calculate Units app.
