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AIBU?

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How bad is a glass of wine per night?

159 replies

flossie72 · 05/11/2025 21:24

Roughly 2.5 bottles a week - over the recommended units by quite a bit. But isn’t a significant amount per night. Just habitual at this point, and enjoyable over dinner.

OP posts:
TheSmallAssassin · 05/11/2025 23:24

A bottle of wine is 6 glasses, so that's an average of two glasses a night (or 3 units)

Cuppasoups · 05/11/2025 23:21

Giving your liver a rest is important.
Ideally 3 days rest a week.
Have you had your bloods done?
Checked for liver function and fat on the liver?
Might put you mind at rest or give you food for thought!

CommentHere · 05/11/2025 23:19

Try a soft drink in a wine glass. You'd be surprised that the attraction is the habit and the nice glass rather than the drink itself. I would say 2.5 bottles a week is quite a lot, so see if you can substitute it with a non alcoholic beverage.

flossie72 · 05/11/2025 23:12

At most I would get through half a bottle in one night. I certainly wouldn’t be able to drink a full bottle. Did it in my youth, not now.

Ordinarily it would be less. I do usually have at least 2 nights off but I can’t deny I do enjoy sitting down with a glass of wine at the end of the day. I know there are healthier ways to relax but I don’t really have the time or motivation for them at the moment. I would say it’s a combination of boredom, habit and enjoyment. But I am very cautious not to let it creep up to more and can easily leave it after a glass or two.

OP posts:
ThePoetsWife · 05/11/2025 22:19

I would look for healthier ways to de stress - for example going to the gym or exercising.

Tealtoffee21 · 05/11/2025 22:15

If you're going through half or a third of a bottle a night, that's a fair bit more than a glass a night. I'd be a bit worried that you're not facing up to the actual amount you drink, which isn't a great sign.

Personally I don't think a couple of glasses a night is loads, I won't be particularly concerned about a friend who drank this amount, as long as there were a couple of days off. I'm not a doctor though.

I think you need to be careful that you don't gradually increase to a half bottle every night, which can lead to a bottle every night. I've know a few women who ended up with a bottle a night habit, and it's way too much.

I think you need to work out what exactly you're getting out of drinking. When I was in my late 20s my then flatmate and I got into the habit of having a lovely big gin and tonic when we got in from work, and after a few months realised it wasn't the best habit, so cut it back to just Fridays.

I'm single and living alone now - happily! - and I rarely drink at home because I've realised that alcohol is an enjoyable social thing for me, so very happy to open a bottle of wine when friends/ are around, but rarely do it when I'm by myself - eating chocolate has pretty much become my cosy night in treat, which has it's own health problems.

So, try to work out why you're drinking - and I write this as someone who likes drinking, likes the buzz, likes the conviviality, likes the taste, likes to split a bottle of wine with a friend.

In my case, drinking to relax after work was becoming too much of a good thing - 1 drink became 2 - but it was easy to stop because it wasn't too engrained as a habit. I think I ended up de-stressing by cooking from scratch rather than heating something up.

JoyintheMorning · 05/11/2025 21:58

Sounds right to me. Buy as good a quality as you can afford.

flossie72 · 05/11/2025 21:34

I usually have at least 2 nights off per week but over the last fortnight due to various things (holidays etc) I think I’ve had a glass of wine pretty much nightly.

A bottle lasts me about 3 nights, sometimes 2 depending on the pouring 🙈

OP posts:
VikaOlson · 05/11/2025 21:29

That's a very large glass every night 😂

I don't think a couple of bottles a week if terrible but I'd try to give yourself a night or two off.