Units of alcohol per week...

Hector Savage

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/calculating-alcohol-units/

men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis

Seriously ? I thought I didn't drink much and I probably average about 18/20 units a week, so according to this I drink too much ...

Is there an Irish version to this nonsense, I thought the "limit" should have been around 30 units a week ...

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Irish recommended limits

The guidelines are:
11 standard drinks (110g pure alcohol) spread out over the week for women, with at least two alcohol-free days
17 standard drinks (170g pure alcohol) spread out over the week for men, with at least two alcohol-free days
Drinks should be spaced out over the week and should never be saved up to drink on one occasion. These guidelines are intended for adults only; there is no safe level of alcohol intake for those below the legal drinking age of 18 years.

14 units would be a quiet night never mind a weekly limit.

Plumbthedepths

Reed Obedient Stepladder wrote: »

14 units would be a quiet night never mind a weekly limit.

You may have a problem, just saying.

Thelonious Monk

If you enjoy a few drinks and it's not affecting your life, why not? You're going to get cancer one way or another so may as well enjoy your life.

El_Duderino 09

These threads are always amusing. We all this there’s probably no good amount of alcohol. Every now and again you’ll see research suggesting small amount of red wine is has a positive impact on x y or x. So why be annoyed at the research when it says that, in general, booze isn’t good for you but 18 units a week will only cause a bit of harm.

Everyone knows booze isn’t good for you. There’s no point getting cross about it or ignoring it. It’s a matter of acknowledging it and choosing to adhere to it or not and accept the risks and damage that comes with your behaviour. Same as everything else in life.

JohnnyFlash

Depends on the week doesn’t it? You might be on a ‘health buzz’ for a week and not drink at all. Then other weeks you go at it good and heavy.

Like I did the first 4 days of the Galway racing festival this year. Then had a wedding down in Clare on the Friday, the afters in the Saturday, and had a date lined up with a horny divorcee in Limerick in the Sunday night. Drank over 100 pints of Guinness that week.

Then stayed off it the week after as I was feeling a small bit ropey.

corner of hells

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Depends on the week doesn’t it? You might be on a ‘health buzz’ for a week and not drink at all. Then other weeks you go at it good and heavy.

Like I did the first 4 days of the Galway racing festival this year. Then had a wedding down in Clare on the Friday, the afters in the Saturday, and had a date lined up with a horny divorcee in Limerick in the Sunday night. Drank over 100 pints of Guinness that week.

Then stayed off it the week after as I was feeling a small bit ropey.

I'd say the divorcee would've been better off sitting on one of her fingers after you drank your hundred pints.

Raconteuse

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

If you enjoy a few drinks and it's not affecting your life, why not? You're going to get cancer one way or another so may as well enjoy your life.

Everyone is going to get cancer?

spurshero

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Depends on the week doesn’t it? You might be on a ‘health buzz’ for a week and not drink at all. Then other weeks you go at it good and heavy.

Like I did the first 4 days of the Galway racing festival this year. Then had a wedding down in Clare on the Friday, the afters in the Saturday, and had a date lined up with a horny divorcee in Limerick in the Sunday night. Drank over 100 pints of Guinness that week.

Then stayed off it the week after as I was feeling a small bit ropey.

You should get a medal or meet the president . Massive achievement

TuringBot47

Raconteuse wrote: »

Everyone is going to get cancer?

Apparently when the 5g mobile network is rolled out. But at least you'll have great download speeds for an online consultant.

SEPT 23 1989

pulling it back to 30 pints a week seems reasonable

jimgoose

Raconteuse wrote: »

Everyone is going to get cancer?

TuringBot47 wrote: »

Apparently when the 5g mobile network is rolled out. But at least you'll have great download speeds for an online consultant.

Definitely, because 5G uses the same frequency range as UHF TV broadcasts, so if you watched Bosco or The Fall Guy back in the day, you're fuckin' zapped, young-fella me wallpaper. :cool:

meeeeh

I'm fine with that. An odd time I'll go over the limit but if you work and have a family it really isn't hard to be under the recommended level.

runawaybishop

Its all bull****.

From QI a couple years back

"In Britain, 21 units of alcohol per week is the recommended allowance, but in Poland it is 12.5, in Canada 23.75, in the USA 24.5, in Denmark and South Africa 31.5 and in Australia 35. However, if you drink between 21-30 units, you belong to a group of people who have lowest mortality rate in Britain. You actually have to consume 63 units per week, or one bottle of wine a day, to have the same death risk as a teetotaller. The man who invented the system admitted the number was made up. Lifestyle and problems with drink are more likely to harm you."

jimgoose

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

pulling it back to 30 pints a week seems reasonable

Agreed, Chief.

hurler32

Will alcohol be like smoking in years to come ?
Anyone I recall as a heavy drinker in my youth died well before their time but they were 7 nights a week men .

Wayne Jarvis

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Depends on the week doesn’t it? You might be on a ‘health buzz’ for a week and not drink at all. Then other weeks you go at it good and heavy.

Like I did the first 4 days of the Galway racing festival this year. Then had a wedding down in Clare on the Friday, the afters in the Saturday, and had a date lined up with a horny divorcee in Limerick in the Sunday night. Drank over 100 pints of Guinness that week.

Then stayed off it the week after as I was feeling a small bit ropey.

I'm not surprised to see this post was thanked by Bigbagofcans

SEPT 23 1989

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

pulling it back to 30 pints a week seems reasonable

Reminds me of my uncle years ago. The Doctor told him he had to give up the fags. He went in to the doctor a few weeks later and the doctor said "So, have you given them up?" "No, but I've cut them back a lot". Doctor says how many are you down to a day? "I'm down to about 60 a day now".

meeeeh

meeeeh wrote: »

I'm fine with that. An odd time I'll go over the limit but if you work and have a family it really isn't hard to be under the recommended level.

Neither work or family or both make that limit easy to stay under, certainly not work since a large number of nights out are with work friends.

jimgoose

Deleted User wrote: »

Reminds me of my uncle years ago. The Doctor told him he had to give up the fags. He went in to the doctor a few weeks later and the doctor said "So, have you given them up?" "No, but I've cut them back a lot". Doctor says how many are you down to a day? "I'm down to about 60 a day now".

I'd a granduncle who died of the drink some years back. Little wonder, he lived on floury spuds, fat bacon and Paddy whiskey, and he was only 94.

Raconteuse

runawaybishop wrote: »

Its all bull****.

From QI a couple years back

"In Britain, 21 units of alcohol per week is the recommended allowance, but in Poland it is 12.5, in Canada 23.75, in the USA 24.5, in Denmark and South Africa 31.5 and in Australia 35. However, if you drink between 21-30 units, you belong to a group of people who have lowest mortality rate in Britain. You actually have to consume 63 units per week, or one bottle of wine a day, to have the same death risk as a teetotaller. The man who invented the system admitted the number was made up. Lifestyle and problems with drink are more likely to harm you."

But isn't drinking lifestyle? And aren't problems with drink = drinking too much units of alcohol?
"You actually have to consume 63 units per week, or one bottle of wine a day, to have the same death risk as a teetotaller" - just to clarify, does this mean that those who drink a bottle of wine a day have the same life expectancy as a teetotaller?

Reed Obedient Stepladder wrote: »

Neither work or family or both make that limit easy to stay under, certainly not work since a large number of nights out are with work friends.

When they say family they mean children.

Increasingly worse hangovers is enough of an incentive for me anyway.

harry Bailey esq

Hector Savage wrote: »

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support/calculating-alcohol-units/



Seriously ? I thought I didn't drink much and I probably average about 18/20 units a week, so according to this I drink too much ...

Is there an Irish version to this nonsense, I thought the "limit" should have been around 30 units a week ...

There is, as srameen rightfully pointed out. The difference being an Irish unit has slightly more alcohol than a UK unit. I tallyed up my own intake and I regularly exceed 30 units a week, Irish units. I reckon the average Joe would put away 30 units in 2-3 sittings. I think me abacus is f*@#d also.

runawaybishop

Raconteuse wrote: »

But isn't drinking lifestyle? And aren't problems with drink = drinking too much units of alcohol?
"You actually have to consume 63 units per week, or one bottle of wine a day, to have the same death risk as a teetotaller" - just to clarify, does this mean that those who drink a bottle of wine a day have the same life expectancy as a teetotaller?

Yes, basically. Some alcohol is good for you.

Using our longevity tool, and holding all factors constant (gender, age, race, general health, exercise habits, marital status, etc.) besides level of alcohol consumption, the relationship between alcohol intake and longevity can be clearly seen. We ran the numbers for a 55 year old Caucasian woman in very good health, with an average build (5’4”, 120 lbs), and an exercise regime of 1-2 times per week. This woman is married, has completed a full college education, has never smoked, and does not have diabetes. The teetotaler (0 drinks/week) and the excessive drinker (8+ drinks/week) were projected to live to 92 and 93 years old, respectively. The same person having one drink per week was projected to live to 94, and the moderate drinker (2-7 drinks/week) was projected to live 95 years

"https://www.blueprintincome.com/tools/life-expectancy-calculator-how-long-will-i-live/info/alcohol"

Chief medical officer in the UK saying they were "plucked out of the air"
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/alcohol-limits-were-plucked-out-of-the-air-332869.html

edit: more info directly related to the new UK guidelines here

https://life.spectator.co.uk/articles/the-new-drinking-guidelines-are-based-on-massaged-evidence/

Hector Savage

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Depends on the week doesn’t it? You might be on a ‘health buzz’ for a week and not drink at all. Then other weeks you go at it good and heavy.

Like I did the first 4 days of the Galway racing festival this year. Then had a wedding down in Clare on the Friday, the afters in the Saturday, and had a date lined up with a horny divorcee in Limerick in the Sunday night. Drank over 100 pints of Guinness that week.

Then stayed off it the week after as I was feeling a small bit ropey.

Thats 238 units of alcohol, or 17 weeks worth of "healthy drinking" according to NHS.

That is a lot of drink and wouldn't recommend it , but the fact that the NHS is saying just under 6 pints of Guinness A WEEK is the healthy limit for drinking seems a bit ridicolous.

I have started logging my drinking for pure curiosity and interest and I am at 42 units for the last 2 weeks when I started logging it.

I don;t even get drunk on this amount , and according to the NHS I have a problem ???


GERRUPPP OURRRA DA!!!

Raconteuse

Raconteuse wrote: »

When they say family they mean children.

Increasingly worse hangovers is enough of an incentive for me anyway.

Plenty of people with kids still enjoy an active social life and go out drinking regularly, some disappear off the face of the earth and give up on having the craic but most do not.

Hector Savage

and since there seems to be different methods, the one I am using is


* strength (ABV) x volume (ml) ÷ 1,000 = units

Raconteuse

Reed Obedient Stepladder wrote: »

Plenty of people with kids still enjoy an active social life and go out drinking regularly, some disappear off the fact of the earth but many do not.

Shur who said they don't.

It's not just a case of either getting pissed every time you go out, or disappearing off the face of the earth.

That poster said nothing about social life ending. Just that they don't get drunk much when they go out. And understandably. Hangovers are bad enough without children.

Sky King

hurler32 wrote: »

Anyone I recall as a heavy drinker in my youth died well before their time but they were 7 nights a week men .

I am surprised you recall anything if you were a heavy drinker in your youth.

El_Duderino 09

Hector Savage wrote: »

Thats 238 units of alcohol, or 17 weeks worth of "healthy drinking" according to NHS.

That is a lot of drink and wouldn't recommend it , but the fact that the NHS is saying just under 6 pints of Guinness A WEEK is the healthy limit for drinking seems a bit ridicolous.

I have started logging my drinking for pure curiosity and interest and I am at 42 units for the last 2 weeks when I started logging it.

I don;t even get drunk on this amount , and according to the NHS I have a problem ???


GERRUPPP OURRRA DA!!!

It’s not the NHS’ job to find a limit that gets you drunk and makes you feel good about the amount you’ve had. It’s just their job to tell people what’s an amount, beyond which they’ll likely cause serious harm.

I know I went well over the recommendation at the weekend. It’s not the recommendation’s fault.

Oasis1974

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Depends on the week doesn’t it? You might be on a ‘health buzz’ for a week and not drink at all. Then other weeks you go at it good and heavy.

Like I did the first 4 days of the Galway racing festival this year. Then had a wedding down in Clare on the Friday, the afters in the Saturday, and had a date lined up with a horny divorcee in Limerick in the Sunday night. Drank over 100 pints of Guinness that week.

Then stayed off it the week after as I was feeling a small bit ropey.

Was the jacks in a bad way just out of curiosity mean to try that feat myself the 100 pints of Guinness.

ohnonotgmail

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

It’s not the NHS’ job to find a limit that gets you drunk and makes you feel good about the amount you’ve had. It’s just their job to tell people what’s an amount, beyond which they’ll likely cause serious harm.

I know I went well over the recommendation at the weekend. It’s not the recommendation’s fault.

Is the issue not that the recommendation is not actually scientific? If there was any science behind it the recommended limits worldwide would be similar but they are not. It is the same with the "5 a day" nonsense for fruit and veg. They literally just made up a number that they thought people might actually be able to achieve. no science behind the reasoning.

El_Duderino 09

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Is the issue not that the recommendation is not actually scientific? If there was any science behind it the recommended limits worldwide would be similar but they are not. It is the same with the "5 a day" nonsense for fruit and veg. They literally just made up a number that they thought people might actually be able to achieve. no science behind the reasoning.

Depends on how similar you want them to be.

None of them set a limit of 200 units a week. Most are clustered around 15-30 units a week. So it’s not a precise consensus.

I’m pretty sure nobody thinks booze is a health product. So it’s just a matter of defining “harm” and determining the amount of booze that’s likely to cause “harm” in a population where everyone is different.

Wouldn’t it be a bit mad if they claimed x units per week would cause precisely the same harm to every single person in the world?

Ipso

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Is the issue not that the recommendation is not actually scientific? If there was any science behind it the recommended limits worldwide would be similar but they are not. It is the same with the "5 a day" nonsense for fruit and veg. They literally just made up a number that they thought people might actually be able to achieve. no science behind the reasoning.

Given that they end up dealing with any health problems associated with alcohol, it's understandable they would want people to drink less.

ohnonotgmail

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Depends on how similar you want them to be.

None of them set a limit of 200 units a week. Most are clustered around 15-30 units a week. So it’s not a precise consensus.

I’m pretty sure nobody thinks booze is a health product. So it’s just a matter of defining “harm” and determining the amount of booze that’s likely to cause “harm” in a population where everyone is different.

Wouldn’t it be a bit mad if they claimed x units per week would cause precisely the same harm to every single person in the world?

The range goes from 12.5 to 35. thats a pretty wide range. In order to define the harm caused you should have some scientific basis for what you are saying. I dont that is too much to expect from the medical profession.

Ipso wrote: »

Given that they end up dealing with any health problems associated with alcohol, it's understandable they would want people to drink less.

That doesnt justify pulling a number from your arse.

Jimmy_Conway

About 10 a month, not even that

meeeeh

Reed Obedient Stepladder wrote: »

Plenty of people with kids still enjoy an active social life and go out drinking regularly, some disappear off the face of the earth and give up on having the craic but most do not.

Having the craic isn't defined by how much alcohol you manage to guzzle. Personal Issues forum is full of people who were growing up in a house where parents had plenty of your type of craic.

We still go out and I still drink more than recommended amount every so often but there are fewer opportunities. I also love a glass of wine with food but the best wine is too good to get drunk on.

skallywag

Great idea for a thread, cannot believe such a topic does not get done regularly on Boards ...

Edgware

Simple rule.
When you are lying on the floor in your own vomit and after soiling your trousers having consumed 20 units of Guinness stop and start on units of vodka or whiskey

skallywag

Edgware wrote: »

Simple rule.
When you are lying on the floor in your own vomit and after soiling your trousers having consumed 20 units of Guinness stop and start on units of vodka or whiskey

That would be a little over 8 pints of Guinness.

I think a simpler rule would be if you are going to soil your trousers after 8 pints of Guinness then do not bother with them at all.

Old Irish saying #1 : 'If you can't drink don't drink'

skallywag

hurler32 wrote: »

Will alcohol be like smoking in years to come ?

That's an interesting question. I always found it odd that there are official statements that a few drinks a week is OK, but you never hear that smoking 5 cigarettes a week is fine.

I do not think that there is any real safe limit at all for drink, after all alcohol is intrinsically a poison to the human body.

It is pretty much ingrained into so many cultures now that advocating a total abstinence policy will come with a whole heap of social issues. Just imagine if governments attacked the drink issue the same way that they do with smoking.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Reed Obedient Stepladder wrote: »

Plenty of people with kids still enjoy an active social life and go out drinking regularly, some disappear off the face of the earth and give up on having the craic but most do not.

Wait. Hold on. I don’t really drink. Does this mean the craic can’t be had by me?

irelandrover

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

Wait. Hold on. I don’t really drink. Does this mean the craic can’t be had by me?

Yeah. Also means you don't have a social life.

elperello

They claim that 3 pints is a binge drinking episode.
I know guys who would drink 3 pints while deliberating on whether to go on the drink for the day or not.

runawaybishop

skallywag wrote: »

That's an interesting question. I always found it odd that there are official statements that a few drinks a week is OK, but you never hear that smoking 5 cigarettes a week is fine.

I do not think that there is any real safe limit at all for drink, after all alcohol is intrinsically a poison to the human body.

It is pretty much ingrained into so many cultures now that advocating a total abstinence policy will come with a whole heap of social issues. Just imagine if governments attacked the drink issue the same way that they do with smoking.

Alcohol has proven health benefits so it's not odd that you hear about them. Smoking does not have health benefits so why would you hear about them?

Interestingly nicotine does have some health benefits and helps ward off Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and there are lots of papers investigating this

El_Duderino 09

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

The range goes from 12.5 to 35. thats a pretty wide range. In order to define the harm caused you should have some scientific basis for what you are saying. I dont that is too much to expect from the medical profession.

It’s not small compared to what people can drink.

So what exact do you consider “harm”? A 2% increased risk of heart disease? A 10% increased risk of liver disease? A 20% increased risk of cancer?

Like I said earlier, it will depend on how exactly you define harm and what increase in the risk of harm you consider to be enough alcohol to cause that harm at a population level.

It’s not an exact science and it will obviously take some interpretation. But that is not the same as plucking numbers out of the sky as you said.

ceadaoin.

The limit is pretty arbitrary tbh and most people can drink more than that without any adverse health effects. I suppose it's set low to cover the people who may have more of an propensity to damage due to underlying issues which they may not be aware of.

Dont get blackout drunk on a frequent basis and dont drink every single day and you'll more than likely be grand.

skallywag

runawaybishop wrote: »

...Smoking does not have health benefits so why would you hear about them?

Interestingly nicotine does have some health benefits and helps ward off Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and there are lots of papers investigating this

Are you not immediately contradicting yourself there, no?

runawaybishop

skallywag wrote: »

Are you not immediately contradicting yourself there, no?

No, the health benefits of nicotine are wiped out by the cancer from smoking, so it's not advertised.

Beechwoodspark

elperello wrote: »

They claim that 3 pints is a binge drinking episode.
I know guys who would drink 3 pints while deliberating on whether to go on the drink for the day or not.

Just on a serious note 3 pints of standard 4.3% beer would be about 6 units out of the 14 limit for the ENTIRE week.

skallywag

runawaybishop wrote: »

No, the health benefits of nicotine are wiped out by the cancer from smoking, so it's not advertised.

The health benefits from alcohol are wiped out by liver disease, heart disease, etc. No?

How is this argument different to yours?