Alcohol

Alcohol guidelines

NHS Live Well recommends that men and women drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, spread across 3 days or more. That's around 6 medium (175ml) glasses of wine, or 6 pints of 4% beer. There's no completely safe level of drinking, but sticking within these guidelines lowers your risk of harming your health. The NHS Better Health website has more information on how to Drink Less.

Negative effects of alcohol

  • It is a depressant
  • It slows down the brain
  • It makes it hard to think clearly
  • It makes it hard to get quality rest
  • You wake up anxious and groggy
  • It dehydrates the body
  • Hangovers affect productive output
  • It can influence you for more than one day  
  • It can affect internal organs

Advantages of reducing alcohol intake

  • More motivation
  • A clearer mindset
  • Better relationships
  • Higher physical performance
  • Restful sleep
  • No hangovers
  • Wake up refreshed 
  • Less visceral fat (around the stomach)
  • Higher energy
  • Higher testosterone  
  • More stamina 

Very Brief Intervention

Ask

Do you mind if I ask you a question about alcohol?

  • This question may be promoted from some verbal or visual prompts i.e. the person has stated that they have a hangover or there is evidence of drinking in the home etc...

How often do you have a drink containing alcohol?

  • If the answer given indicates around four or more times a week, you may wish to consider asking how many drinks they have on each of these occasions. Explain that unit measures can be quite confusing and offer to explain a simple unit measurement guide.
  • The principle behind understanding units and applying these to the guideline is important. Essentially, the greater the dose consumed, the greater the chance of unwanted effects.

This is one unit...

 

 

 

 

(Image: Alcohol use disorders identification test consumption (AUDIT C) - gov.uk)

The Chief Medical Officers (CMO) guidelines (UK Department of Health) for both men and women state 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 wish to cut down the amount you drink, a good way to help achieve this is to have several drink-free days a week.

Healthcare professionals are advised to use the questions within the UK government's Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Consumption (AUDIT C)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Consumption (AUDIT C)

Assist

Tell them about the benefits of reducing alcohol intake

  • Improved relationships
  • Reduced calorie intake, which can therefore reduce body fat
  • Improved fertility 
  • Improved sleep
  • Reduced risk of injury
  • Fewer hangovers
  • More alert and higher performance at work
  • Reduced risk of high blood pressure
  • Reduced risk of cancer
  • Reduced risk of liver disease

Act

National Support

If you think they would benefit from further support to reduce their drinking, you can recommend they:

  • Speak to their GP
  • Call Drinkline 0300 123 1110 (Mon-Fri 9am-8pm, Weekends 11am-4pm) or Drinkline Scotland on 0800 7314 314. Drinkline provides free, confidential, accurate and consistent information and advice to callers who are concerned about their own or someone else's drinking regardless of the caller's age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity or spirituality
  • Download the 'Drink Free Days' app (NHS Better Health). It makes it easy to keep an eye on alcohol consumption and helps people to take control with daily tips and feedback.

Signposting opportunities:

nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support

drinkaware.co.uk/advice/i-need-advice-to-reduce-my-drinking

alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk

Self Care 

More tips on cutting down

Make a plan
Before you start drinking, set a limit on how much you're going to drink.

Set a budget
Only take a fixed amount of money to spend on alcohol.

Let them know
If you let your friends and family know you're cutting down and it's important to you, you could get support from them.

Take it a day at a time
Cut back a little each day. That way, every day is a success.

Make it a smaller one
You can still enjoy a drink, but go for smaller sizes. Try bottled beer instead of pints, or a small glass of wine instead of a large one.

Have a lower strength drink
Cut down the alcohol by swapping strong beers or wines for ones with a lower strength (ABV in %). You'll find this information on the bottle.

Stay hydrated
Have a glass of water before you drink any alcohol, and alternate alcoholic drinks with water or a soft drink.

Take a break
Have several drink-free days each week.