Binge drinking in the UK, as defined by the NHS, is drinking more than eight units of alcohol in a single session for men, and more than six units of alcohol in a single session for women. So, drinking three large glasses of wine is the same as drinking a whole bottle (750ml), which, like any binge drinking, can have serious consequences for your health. If you order a large glass of wine, that means you’re having 250ml – and that is likely to contain at least three units of alcohol in a single glass. There has been a trend towards larger servings for wine too. If you drink at home, a good way to avoid accidentally pouring too much and limit how many units of alcohol you have is with a measuring cup. But these days many pubs and bars have switched to 35ml or 50ml measures – meaning you might be having a lot more alcohol without realising. Pubs and bars used to commonly serve spirits (like vodka, gin, rum or whisky) in 25ml measures - that’s about one unit of alcohol per measure. Keep track of your units with the MyDrinkaware app And the more you drink, the longer it takes – so, six units of alcohol would take the average person six hours to process. It takes an average adult around an hour to process one unit of alcohol so that there's none left in their bloodstream, although this varies from person to person. It’s also important to spread any drinking over three or more days, with several drink-free days and no bingeing. The UK’s Chief Medical Officers advise that, if you choose to drink, it’s safest to drink no more than 14 units a week (for both men and women). Because alcoholic drinks come in different strengths and sizes, units are a way to tell how strong your drink is, which can also help you to make comparisons.Īs an example, a pint of average strength beer (4% ‘alcohol by volume’, or ABV – see below for explanation) has about two units in it, while a single measure (25ml) of typical spirits is one unit. One unit is 10ml (millilitres) or 8g (grams) of pure alcohol. But what is a unit, and what does it mean? What is an alcohol unit?Īlcohol units are a simple way of understanding the quantity of pure alcohol in a drink.
Understanding how many units of alcohol you drink is a great first step to looking after your health.
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