To think 87.3% of British women don't drink less than me?

[theduchessstill]

I went on one of those sites where they track and evaluate your drinking - was inspired to do so by another thread. I know I drink a bit too much - across three nights I have a bottle of wine and often a couple of bottles of lager or another glass or 2 of wine.

The site calculated it as 16 units - I knew it would be there or thereabouts so no great shock there, but then said that 87.3% of British women drink less. I find that hard to believe. Who is buying all the wine then? There are people who are alcoholics, people who drink small - medium amounts every night, people who have a massive blow-out every week etc etc.

Surely we don't have a massive problem with alcohol in this country (and we do) if the vast majority of women drink less than me, who drinks slightly over the maximum amount recommended. In particular, I understood women's drinking was of particular concern.

I'm not looking for validation - I know the amount I have is a bit too much but I'm happy enough with it atm, but that figure seemed unlikely to me.

I drink non alcohol. 16 units seems an awful lot a week!

Accurate stats would be very hard to come by as people lie about alcohol consumption and measurements vary person to person. I'm currently pregnant so don't drink at all but prior to this I would only drink maybe 3-4 times per year but that was binge drinking and the hangover is enough to put me off doing it again for a few months

Alcohol consumption is a very taboo subject. My dad was an alcoholic with liver failure but still lied to the gp saying he was drinking around 1/5 of the true amount.

I don't drink at all anymore but most of my friends drink way more than you OP. But they are drinking very unhealthy amounts like 2 bottles of wine in an evening and that's over the weekend but still have an odd glass in the week. If you added that up it would be a lot especially one friend who goes out a lot and sits in the pub until 2/3 am. They however don't have any health problems to date and I do!

If you need to go on a site to check how much you're drinking sounds like maybe you think it's a little much. Maybe cut down a little

I rarely drink (ten units a year), never liked the taste.

Why do you drink anything? I'm really curious, do you try different things each time?

There's massively obvious motivation to drink alcohol sometimes even if you don't like the taste! I'm guessing nearly everyone who drinks probably to some degree likes the feeling of relaxation/blurriness/buzz that alcohol gives them.

What I don't get are the PP who say they have a few units a year, why bother at all? You wouldn't get someone saying I don't smoke but I'll have a fag on my birthday and Christmas?

Because people want an alcoholic drink every once in a while, which is absolutely fine. It sounds like something they do on special occasions and rare nights out and probably haven't got into the habit of drinking at home 'just because'.

It's not like exercise you know, where the benefits wear off if you only go for a run a handful of times a year.

And some people do smoke the odd fag every once in a while. It's quite comendable that people are able to indulge in very occasional unhealthy behaviour without it becoming a regular habit or addiction.

I dont drink either. Do you not feel like shit after drinking that much?

I haven't RTFT but I posted here while ago asking about what 'moderate' drinking was... My parents are typical older drinkers - a bottle of wine a night between them and a couple of 'nightcaps' of whisky / rum before bed, every day. That's normal to me. DH and I have cut back on drinking a lot, now mostly dry through the week and share a bottle of wine with dinner a night Fri - Sun.

But when I asked on here about moderate drinking I was gobsmacked at how little people seem to drink - like a few drinks a year etc. I think everyone believes that their own level of drinking is 'normal' - I know my mum does, and thinks of me as a very light drinker now because I rarely drink spirits!

Something I've noticed is that a lot of people seem to talk about drinking loads, but they actually don't. For a lot of my friends, two glasses on a night out is the limit, and they talk about feeling dizzy etc as if they've had loads to drink... Two glasses for me is just getting started, an aperitif before the proper drinking starts!

So I think that YABU, and that it's entirely possible that you are drinking more that 87% of the population, because your idea of 'normal' is not the same as it is for others. Everyone thinks that they are normal and others are extreme!

I don't drink unless I go out, once or twice a year (sad) and then I can manage about 5 drinks before I start feeling sick and bloated.
I enjoy a baileys or 2 over Christmas and something on Christmas Day Like Buck's Fizz.
Alcohol dosnt mix well with me, it makes me hungry and the next day quite moody, I also don't like the taste of most alchol

For me it has changed as I get older. I used to drink quite a lot in my late teens and twentys, out a lot socially with mates.
Now I rarely drink as it gives me a really bad hangover so I restrict it to special occasions as I do enjoy having a drink just not the after effects.
I have lots of alcohol in my house, corporate gifts etc, but rarely drink at home so often donate bottles to school raffles etc.
Lots of people I know about my age have drastically reduced the amount that they drink.

aweewhilelonger

Sorry but anyone who says that your parents are anything other than alcoholics/dependent drinkers/very heavy drinkers is delusional.

Half a bottle of even low strength (10/11%) wine and a couple of single spirits per person per night is nearly 50 units a week - nearly 4 times the recommended limit. Not normal or typical at all.

And it will be much more than that if their wine is 14% red and their nightcap spirits are bigger than singles - I knew my typical gin and tonic was probably a large one but it was only when I was drinking from bottles from a gift set of 100 ml bottles that I realised that each one contained at least a triple measure.

I think I would look at things closely, OP doesn't have to share with us all, but if it gets to a certain point and she's thinking, ooh wine time, possibly there's a habit that needs dealing with.

If she's fine going several days without, no feeling crappy etc. Then not much a problem, but she should consider liver supplements or cutting down as it's over what's recommended.

Not saying that it's a problem, but the long term impact could be pretty bad. I shared a ward with a woman who was sunset yellow, she drank a bottle a night.

It's up to us as adults to say, hang on, maybe this is a bit too much ill cut down a bit. We're all in control of our own lives. I can't dictate to another woman what is acceptable, as it's personal choice.

I do senorita!

I have a smoke at weddings, when smokers are feeling friendly enough to share. One is enough though, two leaves me feeling icky. The smokers let me know when they are going and smuggle me out. I feel fourteen again.

When I didn't drink much at all, I'd have a glass at Christmas and weddings so I could join in with toasts.

I drink more now, but still 2 units a week rather than 16.

Barbara

That's my point really. I totally agree that my parents are really heavy drinkers - I can see that now that I know about the NHS guidelines and I've met / heard from people who drink moderately with no stress about it. But when I was younger, because this was the behaviour that I observed pretty much every day when growing up, to me it's the norm. It's what adults do. Just as someone growing up watching their parents smoke dope every night would think that was the norm until they learned differently. Getting to know DHs family was a revelation for me: his parents basically don't drink, except a sherry / wine / beer at Christmas / birthdays: they'd rather have a cup of tea with their meals. His sister is practically teetotal. Because my parents are such big drinkers, and the majority of their friends / people I grew up around are the same, I really didn't know that people didn't drink when I was young.

They are both in their 70s and have no alcohol-related illnesses AFAIK. They've both been fine when they've had to stop drinking for a while due to having operations / tests etc. They both held down responsible jobs up to retirement. I don't recall ever seeing them drunk / loud / falling over etc. or any of the other things that children of alcoholics report from their childhood. So growing up, there was really nothing telling me that this level of drinking was detrimental or abnormal TBH. As I said, everyone thinks that their 'normal' is the norm, and it's only through being exposed to other 'normals' that you learn that yours isn't necessarily 'normal'. IYSWIM ;-)

Everyone in my family (including aunts, uncles, cousins) drinks quite a lot, without exception.

My dad was almost definitely a functioning alcoholic, but died of something unrelated and autopsy showed a normal liver when he died. I think alcohol's main negative effects on him were more to do with his weight (beer belly) and personality.

I don't drink unless I go out out

And I don't ever go out out

Therefore I do not drink

I have had two (measured) gin and tonics this week and will probably another 3-4 tomorrow night. Anymore than that in one go and I don't sleep. I don't normally drink mid week but I had had a really rubbish day on Wednesday. Only time I've drunk more than that or half a bottle of wine a week was throughout December due to parties and socialising. By the time January came around I was sick of alcohol and felt really sluggish. I had nothing for a couple of weeks and then went back to just a few on the weekend.

I think 16 units a week, every week is quite a lot.

Many people might drink more on a night out, but if that's only once or twice a month then averaged out they probably drink less.

I actually think some people probably over-report what they drink when with friends and colleagues and on places like Mumsnet. All the jokes about needing a wine or 5 or getting out the gin. For every person who's actually doing that there's likely another who won't actually be drinking and is just saying it's been that kind of day.

I just find it strange that on threads like this the non-drinkers or occasional drinkers are accused of being snobby or judgemental as though they even care what other people do or feel that their choice is somehow "better" because it's within health guidelines? It's really odd. It's like thinking that anyone who breastfeeds is smug and judging all bottle feeding mothers. Does anyone pay that much attention to guidelines apart from knowing that some things are healthier in moderation?

The thing is, some people on this thread who clearly don't drink much (and seriously, good for them - I don't think drinking alchohol is some kind of virtue) are talking as if the levels of drinking in the OP are indicative of a serious problem or dependence. But that amount is only just over the guidelines and it's actually very moderate. I bet regardless of the percentage, a little like wealth, you'll find a few people in the top few percent drink far, far more than that.

Yes I suppose that's true. Fair enough. I do think one person's "normal" is different to another's but I don't think OP's description is really outlandish.

I don't drink very much (maybe two bottles of beer on a really 'wild' week) but as DP's family drink quite heavily (at least four cans or a bottle of wine a night each on most nights), have been turned off alcohol.

When I worked with the Drugs and Alcohol team for a while the medical info that we had was very disturbing. Previously, I'd known that regular alcohol intake caused liver damage but wasn't expecting the huge lists of problems caused, worsened or brought forward by years, through regular drinking even at quite low (IMO) levels.

Having said that, I really appreciate an occasional glass or two of decent red, white or pink and understand why others enjoy it too. Cheers! (maybe in moderation)

Growing up it was the norm to go to the pub with your children. I can honestly say I don't think mine have ever been to one. My cousin who has a DC the same age as DD has bunged her DC in the Wacky Warehouse places since they could walk, at the pub most nights.

To be honest I can see why they're broke, as it's not exactly cheap.