How to monitor your units of alcohol consumption. A slightly unexpected subject perhaps for a cocktails and mixology blog. We all know that alcohol can be our downfall if uncontrolled. There’s nothing new in that. And I’m not here to warn or moralise about alcohol consumption. There’s plenty of much more well-qualified people and lots of scientific data out there. However, it is also important to point out that there is scientific evidence which shows that some alcohol in moderation is actually good for us and increases life expectancy. It’s the way we consume alcohol : the binge drinking that is the problem, as well as excessive consumption of course which harms us. An article in Imbibe magazine (now deleted unfortunately) showed research on the subject. Ok, so it’s an article in a magazine for the drinks industry. But nevertheless it is quoting the independent and clinically well-regarded BMJ (British Medical Journal.)
Counting your units
What surprises me though is that I’ve never met anyone who counts their units of alcohol. Never. Ever. I’ve met plenty of people who count calories, but why not units of alcohol? You might argue that is because it’s difficult to work out. My response would be “No, it’s not.” All alcoholic products sold in supermarkets or off-licences have the number of units (of alcohol) displayed on the bottle. Just as food producers do. So it’s comparable. The reason it perhaps seems confusing is that no-one ever practices working it out.
Admittedly it does need a bit of basic maths. Most can be done in your head. Ok, yes pints are a bit tricky, at 568ml. But most of the rest of it is standard measures.
For me, and this being a mixology blog, it is all about spirit measures. And 25 ml (i.e. one standard measure) at 40% ABV – like all spirits are by law mostly – is 1 unit. Pretty easy really. Many liqueurs are around 20% so they’re effectively half strength. A fair number of the traditional ones though : Drambuie, Cointreau and Grand Marnier are full strength, 40%.
I always use that 25 ml @ 40% as my start point. Beer then at 250 ml and 4% would also be 1 unit. There’s 10 x more of it, but it’s only 1/10 as strong.
Recording units v. counting calories
Maybe the reason people count calories and others don’t count units is that it is more obvious if someone needs to diet. So it’s their way of saying, “look I’m working on this. I’m counting my calories and I’m going to get there.” With alcohol consumption it is far less obvious, until things become extreme.
How many units?
The advice on this has changed in recent years. For a long while we were given the advice that men shouldn’t consume more than 28 units per week. For women that limit was 21 units per week.
Then in January 2016 this all changed. Now the limit as advised by the BMA (British Medical Association) and by extension your GP and the government is 14 units per week. Regardless of whether you’re male or female. It is acknowledged that there is no safe limit for alcohol consumption. So the figure is a bit arbitrary. Clearly it isn’t to say that if you consume 12 units per week every week of the year that you’ll be fine. Conversely drinking 15 units each week, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re headed for an early grave. The reality is that the risks increase the more you consume.
I also came across numbers recently which stated that binge drinking equates to 8 units in a session for a man and 6 for a woman. How many people are aware of this?
What else?
There have been various bits of additional advice regarding drinking alcohol. The points below are from the BMA (British Medical Association)
- Eating when drinking helps. This helps the metabolism. It effectively soaks up some of the alcohol.
- Drink water while consuming alcohol. This is a great one for me personally. I try to remember to consume a fair amount of water while drinking. It works. No hangovers for years!
- Drink slowly. I guess this is obvious but it depends on the environment you’re in sometimes.
- Have at least 2 dry days per week.
You can read more about this article here.
Why does this all matter?
I heard an interview a few years ago with a celebrity who was explaining why they’d never allowed themselves to become alcoholic. I thought this person was Michael Caine, but I can find no trace of this article or interview now. What he said was that he loved wine, and he never wanted a doctor to say to him one day, “I’m afraid you’ve got to stop drinking.” The point he made was that he never wanted someone else to make that decision for him.
Good point well made I thought. So enjoy your drinking. But keep it sensible and hopefully we’ll all be here a lot longer with glass in hand. Cheers!