Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol doesn't often cause any problems; however, drinking too much can be harmful. The Department of Health advises that men should not drink more than three to four units of alcohol per day, and women should drink no more than two to three units of alcohol per day.

What is a unit of alcohol?
One unit of alcohol is equivalent to 10ml of pure alcohol. As a rough guide:
• 1 pint of strong lager = 3 units
• 1 pint of ordinary lager, bitter or cider, 175ml glass of wine = 2 units
• 1 alcopop = 1.5 units
• 1 measure of spirits = 1 unit
• many wines are around 11 or 12 per cent alcohol therefore a small glass = 1.5 units

Lagers and ciders sold in bottles are usually stronger than those sold on draught.
You can find out exactly how many units of alcohol are in the bottle by reading the label.

Calculate your average daily alcohol intake www.direct.gov.uk

How long alcohol stays in your bloodstream

On average, the body can breakdown alcohol at a rate of one unit per hour (depending on your weight, sex, age, metabolism, stress levels, amount of food eaten, medication taken and type of alcohol consumed). If you get drunk avoid alcohol for 48 hours afterwards to give your body time to recover.

Health risks
The abuse of alcohol can lead to a wide range of health problems. In the short term it may cause you to experience drowsiness, tension, dehydration, unconsciousness or even death. In the long term, it is known to contribute to more serious health problems, including liver damage, cancer and heart disease.
More health risks linked to excessive drinking. www.direct.gov.uk

Excessive drinking can also take its toll on your personal life, affecting all of those around you – from friends and family to work colleagues. If you want to tackle a drink problem, there's information to help you further on in this article.

Drink driving
The UK legal limit is 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood - as a rough guide this means men should consume no more than four units of alcohol, and women no more than three units, before driving. Still, there is no fail-safe guide as to how much you can drink and stay under the limit. The only safe way to avoid a fatal accident, driving ban and/or large fine is not to drink if you plan to drive.

Penalties for drink-driving on the HighwayCode website
www.direct.gov.uk

Police can ‘breathalyse’ you if they suspect you’ve been drinking too much just before driving. This test estimates the concentration of alcohol in the blood. If you fail the test, you will be charged and the breath test will be stored as evidence. Failure to give a breath test is an offence.

Dealing with a drink problem

You don’t have to be an alcoholic to be drinking over a safe limit. With this in mind the NHS has developed a free and confidential online Down Your Drink programme. It tells drinkers what they need to know to become a 'thinking drinker'.
More about the Down Your Drink programme www.direct.gov.uk

Tips for cutting down your drinking www.direct.gov.uk

Signs of excessive drinking www.direct.gov.uk