How can I be in the top 5% of drinkers at 20 units a week?!

[Pooshy]

I've been tracking how much alcohol I drink since the start of the year in an effort to cut down

It's working and I think I probably drink about half as much as I used to, around 20 units a week on average. Still over the women's recommended limit of 14, but this is better than I was

However the app I'm using says I'm in the top 5% of drinker so that means only 5 people out of 100 drink more than me

Surely that can't be right... how many unit do you drink a week usually?

I havent rtft... but i would say .. most people lie.. those who drink tend to drink more than they would admit to healtb professionals or surveyors of these things so the figures will always be skewed.

I probably drink about 1.5 bottles of wine a week, which would take me to about 15 units a week depending on how strong it is. I love wine, but have cut down on my drinking as I felt I was drinking too much. So now I only drink at weekends.

I don't think mumsnet is typical as I get the impression that many mumsnetters only drink a thimbleful of wine every now and again. I know very few people who don't drink at all.

OH and I have started drinking more very low alcohol beers and ciders (typically 0.5% alcohol) There are some really delicious tasting non/low alcohol options these days.

So partly what I am getting at is a question about what we see as ‘normal.’ Is 2-3 glasses of wine a night so ingrained that people see it as par for the course? And does that then indicate a wider problem than perhaps binge drinking statistics show up.

Yep. Alcohol is so ingrained in society now isn’t it. I’ve read a few “quit lit” books and as they all say “alcohol is the only drug in the world you have to justify not taking”. Society encourages people to drink and then gets all judgy and pursed lips when they become addicted to this addictive substance! Madness.

I have 1 glass of wine every 2 weeks, occasionally it'll be once a week.

I don't drink at all in the week though, just Friday or Saturday night.

@YouBumder
Well if it wasn’t, something else would be. Humans naturally gravitate towards stimulatants one way or another. Always have, always will.

If I had my way, every bar would have a little teapot, just for me

I remember going to a rave in my younger days many moons ago and being absolutely thrilled when I saw they had a tea and coffee bar

@PotolBabu
Interesting what you say about maybe in your 50s you will drink more. I went years barely drinking at all and never at home, and yes this coincided with me having children. I really only started drinking at home when they were in their 20s and I’m 50 this year.

Ah fuck. Put the apps and guidelines down.

Does drink interfere with your life? Do you spend anytime wishing you could stop? Is it impacting your health? No, as you were then x

About one drink a week if you averaged it over the year (more on holidays and at Christmas, but often go weeks without any at all).

2 bottles is my normal weekend (three nights)

I have only drank one glass of wine in 10 years. Before that I drank about 2 bottles of wine and half a bottle of rum a day minimum. I have no idea how I held down a job.

At what point would you say you have an alcohol dependancy problem?

I'm teetotal, but before that was on about 5 a month if that.

Normally none. Occasionally 2 or 3. Rarely more than that.

Well that’s true meandwine but society doesn’t push the consumption of other drugs the way it does alcohol. How many of these “mummy blog” fb pages show mummy smoking a joint or racking up lines of coke?

2 bottles is my normal weekend

Lager, wine or vodka?

I drink when I go out but hardly at home.

Most weeks I have between 0 and 3 units.

I rarely go out these days (once every 2 months maybe, or less). But when I do, I can easily have between 10 and 30 units over the course of a night.

Among middle-aged and elderly people, moderate drinkers have lower mortality rates than do abstainers. This difference is due largely to the protective effect of alcohol against coronary heart disease a positive effect that appears to outweigh any possible adverse effects of moderate drinking.
People who drink alcohol in amounts that exceed the limits of moderation have higher death rates than do moderate drinkers. Heavy drinking is associated with severe risks to the safety of the drinker and others. Heavy drinking is also associated with increased risks of liver disease, high blood pressure, alcohol-related heart diseases, and some types of cancer.
The consumption of small amounts of alcohol on a regular basis is more healthful than the sporadic consumption of larger amounts of alcohol. The pattern of drinking that includes episodes of heavy intake (e.g., weekend splurges alternating with weekday abstinence) is associated with health and safety risks. This pattern of drinking should not be regarded as truly moderate or healthful, even if the individual's total weekly alcohol intake is within the limits of moderation.
Moderate drinking is defined as not more than two standard drinks per day for a man age 65 or under, and not more than one standard drink per day for a man over the age of 65 or a woman of any age. A standard drink consists of one 12-ounce can of beer, one 5-ounce glass of wine, or a mixed drink containing 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits. Each of these standard servings contains an equivalent amount of alcohol.

www.acsh.org/news/1999/02/01/moderate-alcohol-consumption-and-health

It is the protestant influence in our culture that makes people think it is good to deny and abstain. Drink alcohol or don't, but a moderate amount is not an issue.

I’m about 3 bottles of wine a week. In all my social circles (including work) that’s about normal. I’ll pretty much always have a glass with dinner, can easily sink a bottle on a weekend. I don’t worry about it overly as it doesn’t interfere with my life, and as vices go I don’t think a daily glass of red is anything to get worked up about. MN is certainly not representative of the people I know.

Considering there's 9 units in the average bottle of wine, 20 units is two bottles of wine per week, plus a glass.
That doesn't seem much to me but I suspect my perception is a bit off

Mumphine It sounds like you can not drink alcohol moderately, many people can't. So avoiding alcohol altogether makes sense.

And yes I find more people do drink alcohol once their kids are grown up. I used to drink no or little alcohol. That is because I never went to pubs and very rarely out for a meal that was kid free. So just got out of the habit of drinking.

I loved hearing that moderate drinkers live longer! But there are lots of different studies that say different things. I'm sure there have been other ones saying pretty much any booze is bad.

So, the jury's out I think?

Age must come into it? In my 20s I will have drunk way over 20 units a week as I was out partying 2-4 nights a week. Now I am 40 with a young child, all I want to do most of the time is sleep! So I probably average 5-10 units a week and then have 1 big night out where I will have 10-20 units in one night!!

I never used to lie to Drs when they ask you how much you drink. Then I read that they assume you are lying and mentally double what you say. So now I half it, so the amount they are assuming I drink is accurate.

Before having a kid, I would easily drink 20+ units a week. That's only a couple of bottles of wine. I'd could also run 10 miles a week. Sadly, both of those things are now a distant memory.

I don't think I've ever met a teetotal by choice person. I know people who are because of medical reasons but no one who made that choice for themselves.

Shitloads

Well every time I saw eastern european and central European centenary on a tv they said they drink a shot (not the british size😂) of certain kinds of spirits a day. Usually start with it😂
That spirits are usually homemade and about 50-60%.
Chin chin!