Drinking wine each evening

I don't drink tea. I wish I did but I just don't like the taste. The Queen Mother’s love of alcoholic beverages did not stop her from reaching the age of 101 in 2001. Queen Elizabeth’s mother reportedly enjoyed a gin at midday and pink champagne with dinner.

So... nearly half a bottle a night?

Of course, you do you. I know plenty of people who drink that much.

I personally would say it was too much though.

Mumsnet is very judgemental on female drinkers. I remember asking for advice two years ago and being told my DH should leave me. That effected my mental health. I found a long running thread and it saved me.
I think if you feel the wine is your 'right' you need to cut down or stop. Female consumers are the fastest growing catorgory of alcohol consumers. Think a certain whisky ad and the gin one. Big alcohol is there to trap you.
I have been AF for two years. I drank five out of seven days. My liver returned to normal levels in six weeks.
I drank through grief, loneliness, bullying at work, the list goes on. It's just a sticking plaster and mouldy fruit in water.
I collected wine, bored the arse of people with my knowledge and drank it.
Today I buy fewer alcohol free drinks and stick to milk and tea.
I believe in thirty days AF. It changes your skin and your waistline.
Very few people admit to alcoholism but dependancy creeps up on you.

My granda has a whisky most afternoons at age 94, I think it's what keeps him going 😂

There are plenty of other things in life that can bring happiness though- it's not like alcohol is the only thing that can do that and in fact, alcohol is a depressant so is correlated with low mood over time. The effects of alcohol on mental health are widely documented. Maybe your mum drank because she was depressed already

Probably not doing your liver any good- liver damage creeps up on you as it’s a silent killer I believe.
my friend drinks two med glasses a every night- doesn’t sleep well.. told to go docs for MOT, came back that she has non-alcoholic liver disease 🤦‍♀️so that’s ok not the alcohol then! That was before covid, well she’s carried right on drinking more than ever😳

After she gave up her glass of whisky she became increasingly depressed and frail, and shortly afterwards she died. I am not saying that the whisky kept her alive nor that it killed her but it definitely improved her happiness and quality of life.

OP if you never drink more than 2 and a half bottles in a week, but always buy 3, an obvious thing to do if you’re a bit concerned would be to just buy 2. It’s not going to feel like much less but you’re putting the brakes on.

Is low or non alcoholic wine not the same taste? I heard they improved over recent years

Ops statement 'i just love wine' suggests it's not simply the alcohol that she loves.

‘Dh says mental health more important so if it makes me happy I should just do it.’

This is the concerning bit for the OP I think. That she needs alcohol for her ‘mental health’ and that her husband encourages it. This goes beyond just liking the taste and feeling associated with a couple of drinks, which many people do.

The more OP posts, with the denial, the defensiveness and whataboutery, and saying it would be dangerous for her to give up in Jan, the more a slightly different picture may be emerging.

It doesn't sound like the end of the world but it's probably not ideal. Alcohol is a poison at the end of the day (and yes, I enjoy a drink too!). The NHS recommended weekly intake works out to just over a litre of wine a week, or 1 and 1/3 bottles, and to have 2 consecutive days without drinking each week. This gives your liver a bit of recovery time.

I suppose the way I would see it is, why not drink less, given drinking isn't great for us. And if you can't imagine drinking less, then by definition, you have a problematic habit.

I thought it was better to do days off in a row. 2 is good to start with but ideally 3. Then the liver has chance to recover.

@Tilllly see my post at 8.40 re AF wines. Some are a lot better than others

I drink a lot less than I used to. While I’m not interested in asking the OP her age, hers is the attitude I had in my thirties. I enjoy drinking so why not? As we get older and the reality of our own mortality kicks in, the idea of protecting ourselves from decrepitude becomes more important than a short lived lift from alcohol.
Also in our society wine drinking is viewed as sophisticated, unlike drinking cans of lager. If the OP were drinking 2 or 3 cans of lager a night would would her drinking be viewed differently?

@dingdongdoo89

It's trial and error / personal taste with AF wines, but I've read that sparkling whites tend to be better than still white / red

In case it's helpful, I like (1) Kylie, (2) Freixenet and (3) most of all, this one https://momentumwines.co.uk/products/vilarnau-zero-alcohol-sparkling?variant=40895268126897&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAkeSsBhDUARIsAK3tiee4uAyNlUsRbJAek0BvtclFiWl2DI-uokPEBgYPPdeRR5WoGe7g5T8aAjHDEALw_wcB

Well yes...
was hoping someone knows a nice one!

I did this for over a decade. Alcohol is a poison. I think of it as "the English Disease", this acceptance of drinking at every event and every night, because "it's just a couple."
I get it. I am in no position to judge, having been there myself. I am now "alcohol lite" (two glasses every couple of weeks or so) and while there was no epiphany and wonderful life changing effects, i know i feel better, make few silly mistakes, get more done in the evenings, make better decisions and perform better at work.
i had a lovely day with DH and the in laws by not drinking; they were pleased that i volunteered to drive us all out to the restaurant for the meal we had planned. FIL did have a good few drinks and let loose which her rarely does. when we got back home, he turned up the music and started dancing. It was so funny and nice to see, and better than me having a drink.

I think it sounds like too much and you are relying on it. I can really recommend books such as quit Like a Woman and The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober (there's loads of others, search for 'quit lit'). They helped me reframe how I saw alcohol and went from a glass of wine 4 times a week to none but without feeling deprived at all, I feel liberated from it and feel so much better.

Are you suggesting the whiskey kept her alive 😅

Priceless

Teens that need picking up in the evenings plus peri menopause that means a thumping head the next day after just one large glass with dinner plus looming awareness of mortality are 3 reasons I and my late 40s/ early 50 something friends are cutting right back. Also we all went to the funeral last year of our friend that drank her white wine daily.

A university friend is an oncologist for throat and mouth cancers her patients are pretty much all smokers and drinkers.

@CrackersCheeseNoWinePlease Well done to you

I'm also doing DJ and pleasantly surprised it's been far easier than I had expected. I find it helpful to think of solidarity up and down the UK, with lots of people doing it

Unless they're lying about their drinking.

"Stirling2701 · Today 07:57

My late mum had a glass of whisky every evening. She gave up at the age of 83 and shortly afterwards she died"
.
What exactly are you trying to say here?

All the women in my family drink to self medicate. We seem to all be really tightly wound and edgy in my family for some reason and find it hard to settle.

I was also drinking to self medicate. It started as one glass a night, then two. Then some things happened in my life that meant before I knew it I was having 2/3 a bottle a night. I realised that it was making my nerves worse...which was initially the whole point of me drinking. So I decided to try and stop. My rule now is I drink outside the house, no problem going to the pub for a pint or having wine at someone's house. But I don't want to drink at home alone anymore because for me that's about masking anxiety and as I'm getting older I'm finding it does the opposite.

Recent studies show that there is no benefit to this. Every time you have alcohol you're increasing your risk of cancer. It's sad, but it's true. There's a great Science Vs. podcast about how much alcohol consumption is safe.

So from the point of view of your physical health, it's not good.