Drinking and Your Health

Hampshire County Council is marking Alcohol Awareness Week this year (16- 22 November) by encouraging people to check how much alcohol they drink by using the NHS Change 4 Life online drinks (external link) checker.

Councillor Patricia Stallard, Hampshire County Council’s Executive Member for Health and Public Health, said: “An estimated 24% of Hampshire residents drink above the safe recommended levels for alcohol each week.  Many people do not realise how much they are drinking, especially when at home, but by taking some simple steps it is possible to moderate your drinking and benefit from a healthier lifestyle.”

Most people who have alcohol-related health problems aren’t alcoholics. They’re simply people who regularly drink more than the recommended levels for some years. There’s no guaranteed safe level of drinking, but if you drink less than the recommended daily limits, the risks of harming your health are low.

People can reduce the amount of alcohol they drink by:

• pacing and spacing – sip slowly, space drinks out, have soft drink or water in between
• swapping to a smaller bottle of beer instead of a can, a single instead of a double
• swapping your usual for a low-alcohol drink

Tips on how to cut down alcohol consumption can be found by searching online for Hampshire Drink-less (external link).

By drinking within the recommended limits and having a few alcohol free days every week, you will help your body to stay healthy.  The daily recommended sensible drinking limits are:

• Men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol a day
• Women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day
• Try to have at least two days a week when you don’t drink at all

“Regularly” means drinking this amount every day or most days of the week

You can find out how many units are in your usual tipple by searching Don’t let Drinks Sneak up on You.

For example:

2-3 units  – that’s no more than a standard 175ml glass of wine (ABV 13%)

3-4 units – that’s not much more than a pint of strong lager, beer or cider (ABV 5.2%)