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?

Surely the drinking percentage thing is of those that track their drink. Those that are two sheets to the wind are unlikely to track their consumption.
Regards the poster who said I wouldn't know if they were a TT, I think I would, I would never look down/think less of them, just wonder why they felt they couldn't share it

@Crockof

Someone upthread claimed that the app gets its info from national data rather than other app users.

On a normal week it can be from zero to 5 (couple of glasses of wine) depending on what I’m doing. I do have the occasional blow out if I’m at a party/social event but that is maybe once every few months if that. I can’t physically drink much wine but I can put away spirits/mixers much easier which is what I drink if I’m out.

1 to 3 units a week at most, often less. I live in the country, so if I go out I'm driving and don't drink. If we have friends round at least one will be driving and not drinking, so we always have non alcoholic drinks available. If DH and I open a bottle of wine on a Friday night, we drink 2/3 of it, then finish it on Saturday night.

@reagansomerset but where do the get the info? The amount people say they drink doesn't correlate with the amount of alcohol that is sold each week.

I never drink in the house. I don’t really get the point in it. I mean what do you do on your couch at night slightly tipsy

I do drink on nights out/weddings etc so not tee total but I’m much more of a social drinker.

My mother is an alcoholic, watching her drink every night by herself may have coloured my view but the whole thing seems so...pointless and a bit sad

It is odd how only twenty percent of the population don't drink regularly, but as this thread shows, mumsnet has a large proportion of them.

However I'm always reminded of the thread where someone asked what was rhe number one luxury you can't afford on your weekly shopping but would love to be able to and the response was overwhelmingly alcohol, there must be a correlation.

The amount people say they drink doesn't correlate with the amount of alcohol that is sold each week. We have about 50 bottles of spirits in the house maybe more and it's a rare day that we drink spirits, given to us as gifts and some bought for cocktails that never get made, I know that sounds a lot but surely lots of people have spirits and booze they never drink.

Our socialising is almost entirely done in the pub/music venues. We both also work in gigs/festivals.

This gets my average alcohol consumption up to around 4 units a month, with 10-12 over a four day festival where I'm in charge of the beer rider.

Nobody has ever asked whether the glass of something pale and fizzy is gin or Rose Lemonade (my two favourite drinks). By the second drink, I'm usually feeling extremely full and don't want anything else, alcoholic or otherwise.

I used to drink a lot more, but I'm not that fussed by it now - partly because I'd rather have my calories as chips.

If somebody is drinking well over the recommended levels and is still slim, they're likely to be restricting their food intake to allow for it - which puts them at huge risk of the alcohol related diseases such as Vitamin B and C deficiencies, some of which are causes of dementia or neurological issues.

If avoiding being a burbling idiot the majority of the time means I avoid becoming a confused and frightened, potentially violent and frequently wandering older person who smears their own shit over the bedroom walls (something I have seen in a neighbour), it's worth it for me.

The amount of alcohol people report drinking in surveys only adds up to about 40-50% of all alcohol sold.

2-3 bottles of wine between me and DH plus maybe a bottle of beer or 2. I try to have at least 2 alcohol free days per week. So at 5 units for half a bottle of wine and 2-3 for a bottle of beer, I guess that is 15-20 units in a typical week. Some weeks may be more, some less.

Ive had a pint of lager shandy tonight. Thats unusual. There was an open bottle in the fridge and i dont like waste... usually i only drink a couple of shandys on a friday and saturday night

If somebody is drinking well over the recommended levels and is still slim, they're likely to be restricting their food intake to allow for it

Or they are naturally slim? Exercise a lot?

@muddysnowdrop I didnt mean I didn't know any non drinkers as I do know a few Muslim ladies who don't but they're not my close friends. And all my colleagues do, including the Muslim man.

Other than for religious reasons though, everyone I come across drinks. Not sure how that makes so me one boring?

I don't think the posters on this thread are representative of the adult population claire. People in my social circle are at a similar stage of life to me - they either have older teens, grown up offspring or no children at all, so we don't need to worry about babies or toddlers, so probably are more relaxed about drinking.

FromEden very few people are actually naturally slim. There's usually an underlying pathology if they have a high calorie intake and are still slim.

The alcoholics in my family were "naturally slim" while they were drinking, except they weren't, they were malnourished due to not eating and instead their majority of cals were from their alcohol intake.

Then as time went on the "beer belly" appeared (increased fat around the stomach caused by high alcohol intake not a myth).

When they quit drinking and started eating properly they gained weight, some significantly so. I believe partly as they were eating junk to replace the alcohol craving, partly as the body wasn't used to the nutrient input and partly because alcohol abuse messes with sugar metabolism permanently.

Lonicera I fall into the generation you're describing I don't think it's just that the younger parents have a higher level of responsibility to their children, I think our generation has a more lax attitude to alcohol intake and the younger ones have become teens and young adults when the dangers of high alcohol intake have been better known and more widely publicised.

While my dad is an alcoholic none of my friends I grew up with or their parents even noticed, because he didn't seem to be drinking that much more than they were, they too wouldn't think twice about driving after a night out or drinking at lunchtime - but again mostly military too which I believe STILL systemically has a major alcohol problem.

An extremely generous glass of wine would be 3 units. I don't drink but if someone told me they had one large glass of wine a day it would sound very abstemious to me. Especially if you sipped it over the whole evening.

That said almost everyone i know is a non drinker or a Christmas sherry drinker. When I was a monumental pisshead, so was everyone i knew.

I’m a single mum, sole responsibility for ds, and I drive every day, so in a normal week only one glass of wine on a Friday night. 1-2 units. More on holiday, but I’ve got out of the habit.

Everyone has their vice though. I gave up alcohol when pregnant, without any problem but when midwife suggested I should give up coffee too...I couldn’t do it.

Just seen some statistics for the USA - the top 10% drink 2 bottles a night. I think uk drinks more. So I would at least want to see the source of the top 5% statistic.

"Doesn't that worry you at all? I'd be really worried if I was dependent on alcohol to have fun."

No, I'm not really worried about it. Why do you think I should be? The tone of your questions suggests you think there's something wrong with me.

Well yes, as my message said I think it's very worrying if you need alcohol to have fun. But you seem to be fine with it so good luck to you!

None. I drink maybe six or seven times a year max of three glasses

OP if when you think about it, drinking 20 units week causes you a problem that impacts your life significantly then it's in your interests to try and find a way to reduce your intake. We all react to alcohol differently and for some very little can cause a problem and for some they seem to be able to drink loads without much impact.
My mother drank every evening for years - she was a vile drunk, it made her paranoid, angry and miserable - she was a nightmare to live with, I don't know how much she drank - but the impact was awful. She gave up eventually, but she remains angry and paranoid, it simmers underneath now - without alcohol she just hides it better! My Dad was a much better drunk - only occasionally getting annoyed, still not great but he was much easier to live with.
The impact to health is something we can't see - it's hard to tick all the boxes as well as limiting alcohol you'll need to make sure you exercise enough - mind and body - aerobic and weight bearing, get enough fruit and veg, getting enough sleep, not being too stressed, not spending time in polluted environments, not eating bacon, not eating too much sugar or too much fat or too much processed food or too much salt or smoke or take drugs, happy and fulfilled in your life and in your relationships? Does anyone manage to tick all the boxes?

@TedAndLola I think it's very worrying if you need alcohol to have fun. Very worrying in what way? What you are very worried about?

"Well yes, as my message said I think it's very worrying if you need alcohol to have fun."

But why do you think that?