Page 8 | How much wine is to much

beanflicker · 2018-05-10T19:40:07+00:00

Please help settle a debate with Dh. I've just put the kids to bed (as always at 8:15) waltzed down the stairs and poured myself a large glass of wine. My Dh has pointed out I go through 4 bottles per week. Help me out ladies is that to much?

LoniceraJaponica · 11/05/2018 05:55

happymummy12345 you are deluded if you think that drinking upwards of 60 alcohol units a week is fine

Cherrysherbet · 11/05/2018 06:18

That's ALOT of wine op.

Gennz18 · 11/05/2018 06:23

Sorry but that NHS infographic is incorrect. A 750ml bottle of 13% wine is 7.7 units

So 4 bottles a week is 30.8 units - seems like quite a bit to me but within the range of what studies suggest you can consume without seeing negative health affects (which become apparent at 35+ I believe)

You would still want to be building in 2-3 alcohol free days though

Itscolderoutside · 11/05/2018 06:29

Sorry, I think that's a Iot. If your DH is flagging it up (and you normally have a supportive relationship) , maybe it is affecting him and the family. It can't be much fun living with someone who has to get semi-drunk every night. That sounds harsh but the alcohol must be having an effect on your mood and conversation every evening. If it didn't have an effect you wouldn't be craving it. You probably feel more relaxed and witty or whatever when you drink, but that is the trick alcohol plays. He (and the DC?) could be missing the real you. Hope you can find a way to cut back. Good luck.

postwoman · 11/05/2018 06:54

I think it is a lot but I can see how it can easily be done if you like wine tbh. Do you drink every day?

ImogenTubbs · 11/05/2018 06:54

Yeeah, that's quite a lot, OP.

winterwonderly · 11/05/2018 06:57

@beanflicker I think the question you really need to ask yourself if whether or not alcohol is having a negative effect on your life. The amount you drink is normal for some and others appear pretty horrified, but we all have our vices whether it's alcohol, smoking, chocolate etc. Yes cutting down would have health benefits but I'm quite sure everyone on here isn't the perfect picture of health getting up for early morning gym sessions and eating healthily all the time. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's probably not overly healthy (and that's your choice to make), but I'd only see it as a major problem if it's having a negative effect on your life.

I was drinking a bit too much and did feel the need to cut down. Why? I was waking up in the mornings after half or three quarter bottles of wine feeling rubbish, having 2 young kids to look after, not enjoying the day with them but instead looking forward to them taking a nap so I could get some rest (rest that I should have had overnight but that was disturbed by alcohol). I'd send texts or comment on Facebook posts after a few glasses that just weren't like me at all. Nothing awful, but I'd maybe be overly gushing at someone's photos who I barely knew, and the next day I wish I hadn't. And the thing that really made me assess how much I was drinking was that I phoned a friend after probably drinking about a bottle of wine one weeknight, obviously made plans with her to go out at the weekend, but I had no recollection of it. She texted me that day asking what time we were meeting and I just felt mortified telling her I didn't know what she was talking about.

I still love a few glasses of wine, but I'd hardly ever drink on a Monday to Wednesday now at all. Sometimes I'll have a glass on a Thursday evening. I do usually have a few glasses on a Friday and Saturday. And occasionally, but not that often, I'd have a glass with dinner on a Sunday. My DH would probably still tell you that I drink too much, but it works for me.

seventh · 11/05/2018 07:04

The amount you drink is normal for some

For some people smoking 60 a day is normal

Normal isn't necessarily right

14 units a week is what the NHS say is right
for our bodies

70 units is killing yourself

Imo that's a fact

nolongersurprised · 11/05/2018 07:13

The last time I saw my GP we talked about the new breast screening advice as the age has lowered where we live. We discussed risk factors etc and she pointed out that the study published last year highlighted that pretty much any alcohol drinking is a risk factor for breast cancer, even at a glass a night or fewer. Although the more a woman drinks the greater the risk.

ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/JCO.2017.76.1155

I drink about a bottle of wine in total over the weekend and nothing during the week but I think I’m going to phase it out as a routine thing. I’m busy anyway and after even a glass I don’t think I sleep as well.

seventh · 11/05/2018 07:21

I should add that a friend of mine is dying in intensive care today because of too much alcohol

And she wasn't someone who sat on park benches and drank strong cider in the morning

She drank too much expensive wine every day for a number of years

LoniceraJaponica · 11/05/2018 07:46

I find it depressing that so many posters are minimising the fact that large amounts of alcohol are just not good for you. Just because it is normal to some people doesn't make it right. Overeating or smoking 60 a day is normal to some people, but it isn't right.

I am not pearl clutching. I drink, but I don't drink 4 bottles of wine a week. The only time I might drink that much might be on a week's holiday in Italy for example, but that would be a one off. We have had a wake up call because BIL is an alcoholic and is now in permanent residential care.

baxterboi · 11/05/2018 08:16

Health advisors have confirmed on numerous occasions that the recommended guidelines were "plucked from the air".

Any amount of alcohol is too much if it becomes a problem for YOU.

in an AA group I've been to, there were people drinking less than you and it was a problem for them. There were others at the other end of the scale where 4 bottles a week would be next to nothing.

We are all so different. I attended AA when I had escalated to close to two bottles a night, constant nausea, anxiety, sweating, generally feeling like shit. I had to stop. It was going to kill me.

Seriously though, if 4 bottles of wine is NOT a problem for you, don't let others tell you how you should feel about it.

Kornucopia · 11/05/2018 08:19

It sounds too much to me. I drank a fair bit when I was younger. Now In my fifties parts of me are showing wear and tear. I've only got one body to live in, so I look after it. I like a glass of wine once in a while but don't need to self medicate, which is what excessive drinking is.

Mulberry72 · 11/05/2018 08:24

It sounds a lot to me OP.

DH and I have two bottles a week between us (on a Friday and Saturday night).

DeputyBrennan · 11/05/2018 08:27

@Gennz18, where have you got 7.7 units from? A 750ml 13% bottle of wine is 13x0.75 = 9.75 units. The NHS info is correct.

4 bottles of 13% wine per week is 39 units.

Highhorse1981 · 11/05/2018 08:28

I find it depressing that so many posters are minimising the fact that large amounts of alcohol are just not good for yo

Nonsense. Have you read the thread? It’s the other way around. Most posters are telling the OP she is drinking way too much

aaarrrggghhhh · 11/05/2018 08:30

Long term effects of moderate alcohol that you wouldn't even notice is things like it inhibits neurogenesis (basically regeneration of brain cells).

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22906480

CoffeeIsNotEnough · 11/05/2018 08:41

I've just got a bottle of wine off the rack. 750ml of 13.5% contains 10.1 UK units. I work on the basis of ten units in a bottle.

A few people upthread asked about smaller glasses. We use 'normal' wine glasses but don't fill them full.

One of these glasses has 100ml in (1.3 units of 10% wine). The other has 175ml (2.3 units).

Gennz18 · 11/05/2018 08:42

@DeputyBrennan from here:

www.alcohol.org.nz/help-advice/standard-drinks/whats-a-standard-drink

Using that formula a 750ml bottle of 13% abv wine is 7.69 units.

Ahh I've just realised that a NZ standard drink is 10g of pure alcohol (which is the amount that the adult liver can process in 1 hour) whereas the UK unit is 8g. Weird.

Chanelprincess · 11/05/2018 08:55

aaarrrggghhhh

Haha...could it be more confusing. I read it as meaning that drinkers are more slightly likely to develop chronic diseases than people who are obese. I was interested to see that this research suggests that drinking poses a similar risk to obesity in general (although obviously the levels of each will also have an impact), yet I imagine most people would think obesity is much worse. Since signs of liver damage are often not evident until its very advanced, most people wouldn't know they're causing damage anyway and probably think they're fine.

Gabilan · 11/05/2018 09:06

I find it depressing that so many posters are minimising the fact that large amounts of alcohol are just not good for you. Just because it is normal to some people doesn't make it right. Overeating or smoking 60 a day is normal to some people, but it isn't right.

I find it depressing how often concerns are dismissed as "pearl clutching" rather than being actively engaged with.

The OP ( where is the OP) is drinking 4 bottles of wine a week. 4x 750ml is 3 litres of wine. At a conservative estimate of 12% that's 36 units per week. Now I'm not saying she's going to keel over and die instantaneously, or that she's an alcoholic, or that everything I do is healthy. But she asked for advice and my advice would be to have a serious think about her relationship with alcohol.

The trouble is that 4 bottles a week can quite quickly become 7, then 10 and then it really is a problem. It would be relatively easy now to introduce 3 or 4 nights a week without alcohol. It will be much more difficult to do this if the amount drunk creeps up.

It will save money. It will reduce calorie intake. And she will probably feel better in the morning.

And no, I don't eat takeaways. Yes, I do exercise. No, I'm not clutching any pearls or saying we should all be teatotal. I'm saying if you're counting in bottles, have a think about how much you're drinking.

WhatATimeToBeAlive · 11/05/2018 09:07

Yes it's a lot. That's approx 40 units a week when the recommendation is 14. As a one-off week it's not an issue but if you are doing this every week then you are looking at potential liver disease and other health problems later in life, never mind what it does to your weight and skin.

RockinRobinTweets · 11/05/2018 09:10

I tend to have 1 bottle, sometimes a little more (when I’m not pregnant!)

My top tip is to buy tiny wine glasses and water down with soda water. It still has the nod to the end of the day but less calories and other bad stuff linked to too much booze

sundowners · 11/05/2018 09:12

I drink a full bottle on both Fri and Sat nights, might have 1 glass/ or a G&t on another 2 days during week and try to have 2-3 days fully off...
I don't think you too excessive OP.

I would maybe cut down to 2 bottles and then just have individual glass (from say mini bottle bubbly) or a G&T on other nights during week- so you don't actually tank a full bottle?

Different people handle different amounts. Big tell tale for me is- how is your skin? If red/blotchy- not good. I assume you drink during course of a night and while eating?

A bottle of wine = 4 glasses- so might sounds like a lot in terms of saying whole bottle but a lot of people say at dinner party/on night out will go far beyond that- say few glasses bubbly start of night, wine with dinner/night cap afterwards-and not even be aware of it. If you are otherwise healthy and not overweight then I don't think too worrying.

mehhh · 11/05/2018 09:37

Sorry I do think that's a lot, I got into the habit of having a glass of wine per night after I stopped breastfeeding dd but probably went through maybe 2 per week including weekends (and dp having the odd glass as well)... I've put myself on a ban now, no wine in the week as it plays havoc with my skin and I never used to have one so I don't know why I have been!