alcohol for females

[shellyr1989]

im just curious to how much alcohol women in 30s 40s even 50s consume weekly. how much do you consider too much and when do you consider it becoming a problem. asking as i am concerned for a friend. what are the signs to be concerned about. i obviously will seek help appropriately elsewhere when i feel it is needed and not just online but i am just looking for peoples opinions

I think there tends to be two issues - not being able to not drink and/or binge drinking and secondly drinking too many units in a week because not really monitoring it.

I have noticed that there is a real risk of me getting in the habit of having wine and accidentally ending up drinking way too many units in a week. And I have to consciously then stop drinking but I don’t find it a problem to do so. I know people
Who can’t stop but don’t think they have a problem…

The max units is 14 and that is well evidenced

I went from hardly touching a drop, to a few times a week, next it was every other night, then every night. Before I knew it, I was drinking a box of cheap wine and a bottle of Jack everyday.

This was a few years ago after leaving an abusive relationship, where ironically he had a drinking problem he wouldn't admit to. I now almost understand that aspect of it.

I ended up in a similar situation again a few years later and slipped down the exact same slope. I now don't drink at all, as I've realised I am always going to end up going from one glass of wine to eventually drinking a bottle a night.

What is your friend's drinking habits?

she told me she only drinks beer very rarely spirits..said 8 cans of coors or henineken on a fri,sat and sun night. no alcohol during the week...24 units in 3 days seems a lot to me over a long period of time. her life is not affected in any way as of yet she gets up every morning and would never drink until evening or night time. im just concerned for her health

Just to be 100% clear, is that 8 cans over the course of the weekend or 24 cans, 8 on each day?

If it's the former then it's rather more than ideal and will increase her long term risk of cancer somewhat, but it's not something for a friend to worry about. It's on a par with eating red meat every day, very occasional cigarettes or not doing enough aerobic exercise.

8 cans each day on the 3 days..

Unless they are very small cans, they will each be more than one unit of alcohol, so she is drinking well over the recommended limits.

According to this, eight 330ml cans of Heineken contain about 14 units, so she is drinking the recommended weekly maximum in a day.

It is probably not immediately life threatening but certainly not healthy long term.

Might she be willing to switch to lower alcohol beer or mix in some alcohol free as a way to cut down?

www.getthedata.com/open-units/heineken-330ml-can

Forgot to post link above.

@shellyr1989

she told me she only drinks beer very rarely spirits..said 8 cans of coors or henineken on a fri,sat and sun night. no alcohol during the week...24 units in 3 days seems a lot to me over a long period of time. her life is not affected in any way as of yet she gets up every morning and would never drink until evening or night time. im just concerned for her health

Then yes, I can understand your concern. Not completely unlike how I started going down my own awful path. It's very easy to say 'ah, it's the weekend' or that it's beer instead of spirits. But it's a very easy path to slide down with that mindset. I will say, I really wish I had had friends like you OP, I might not have gone as far as I had if I did. I know it might be hard for her to listen or take your advice, but one day she will appreciate it. And you can only advise, please don't ever feel its your fault if she doesn't listen x

I'm happy to chat if you need to