to ask how much alcohol is 'normal'?

[Squashinthepinkcup]

Just read another thread about drinking, and it got me to thinking. What's an acceptable amount of alcohol in your opinion? Not from an NHS perspective, but in your household. Do you have a glass of wine/a beer after work most days? If it's a nice wine, maybe you have two glasses, or more? Is it unusual to finish a bottle once a week, either in one evening or over the course of a few evenings?

I just got the impression the OP in the other thread was basing her opinion on whats normal for her household, but it's not something often talked about, so how would you know if it was an okay level or something to be concerned about?

So, what's normal for you, and your partner if you have one?

I love wine and certainly enjoy some every evening

I drink a bottle of wine over a weekend, so Friday to Sunday. In the summer there may be an extra cold beer in there somewhere as it's refreshing. So probably about where the NHS weekly limit is. I don't often go over that.

My partner has a whisky most nights, but he doesn't have much more than that a night, even on weekends.

I would say we both drink more in the summer when the weather is nice, less so in the winter.

I'd rather not drink at all, but I look forward to relaxing with a glass of wine at the weekend.

Definitely not the norm. Maybe for the minority. Mumset is full of people who only have a thimble of sherry at Christmas or, as is my new line, a beer twice a year after a long summers walk.

Usually a bottle of wine over the course of a week and maybe a few G&T's. I probably go over 14 units but not by much. I try to have at least 2-3 sober days per week. Life is stressful, a drink at the end of the day helps me relax. I wish I could get on board with more healthy forms of relaxation like running or meditation or something but meh, booze does it better for me.

Normal for me was 100units pw. Now no units since September last year. I don't judge what others drink, none of my business, but it's interesting hearing what people's 'normal' is.

No idea what normal is.

I sometimes drink a beer or cider or g&t tin a day, with dinner or lunch, more likely in summer.

Other times I don't drink anything for weeks or months.

Every once in a while I get mullered.

Have previously had a drink problem and was teetotal for nearly 20 years

In our household, we generally have beer about once a month, ditto cooking with wine (and remainder is drunk), plus a drink or two when out about once a month, so not a lot!

About a bottle of wine each a week in my house

I drink on Friday & Saturday nights only (alcohol really interferes with my sleep so I keep the number of days I drink to a minimum). Probably a bottle of wine over the two days, plus three cocktails or two cocktails and an extra glass of wine.

I like reading these threads! I'm a recovering alcoholic of many (thankfully) years but in those days I would easily drink three bottles of wine a day.

Not necessarily on this thread but I know from AA that there are people who drink much more secretly than they would ever admit to - I was certainly one of those.

From last Friday to Sunday me and my husband bought 7 bottles of wine (I'm drinking the 7th now).
My husband also drank some cans of cider (I can't drink it anymore, gives me heartburn).
I know most people on mn will judge but I'm not too fussed, we are never roaring drunk and it is relaxing drinking wine late into the evening with a film etc.

If I am honest I am a binge drinker. I’ve actually had a couple of beers this weekend, one Friday, one yesterday. Prior to that I had lots of cocktails last bank holiday weekend, I’d like to do the same again this bank holiday. That’s pretty normal for me and my friends, and always has been, we just know our limits and what to avoid a bit better now.

Like others, what’s normal for me has changed over time. Early 20s with a fair amount of money, few responsibilities and a young body, half a bottle of wine on a work night and at least double on a weekend evening wasn’t unusual. Now in my 50s, a bottle of wine shared with DH every other weekend and no drinking mid-week is my normal.

There are lots of different normals.

They aren’t all good. I somewhat regret those early 20s, though they were a lot of fun.

I don’t drink alcohol at all for health reasons.

Clearly no one from my real life is here

Most people I know (in several different countries) all in good jobs with DCs, drink roughly a bottle of wine a night or equivalent. (50s)

This tends to be the same for our friends too. And us, if I'm honest. We can easily share two bottles with no hangover and get up fine the next day. I'd say that the only nights when I don't drink are those when I'm on call and generally stay at the hospital overnight.

We're both in good health so 🤷‍♀️

We are probably unusual here as we rarely drink at home - Mr Monkey never and me very sparingly. But we do drink when out. If I am out during the week (increasingly rare these days) I may have one or two pints of beer or a glass or two of wine. Weekends a little more. Mr Monkey drinks more than me as he goes out more and is just a bit of a bigger drinker, but he exclusively drinks session type strength beer.

This last week and this weekend just gone, I drank nothing Monday to Thursday, was in Friday night and had a smallish glass of white wine with my dinner. The weekend was typocl with perhaps slightly more drinking than normal as Saturday I went out for the day with friends for a birthday and had an Aperol Spritz at lunch, four GnTs and a pint of beer in the pub in the later. Sunday we went to an afternoon outdoor music event and I had four pints of beer.

A normal weekend one of those three days might be alcohol free or more limited amounts of drinking.

I definitely drink less than I did in the 20s and 30s - a combination of going out less and large amounts of alcohol not agreeing with me as I have got older.

Everyone’s normal is different. As a PP has mentioned you will get people who drink a bottle a night and that’s their normal and others who drink a handful of times a year and that’s a normal for them.

And then invariably you get all the histrionics from posters who claim that Mumsnet is full of people who think a “thimbleful of sherry once a year makes you an alcoholic” (always an exaggeration and almost always from people who know they drink too much).

It doesn’t really matter what’s “normal”. A lot of people drink more than is good for them but because alcohol is normalised in our society it is tolerated. That doesn’t mean it’s not harmful though.

I average about a bottle of wine per week. Almost always split between two days (usually Friday and Saturday). Almost never during the working week unless I am out.

Why do you bother having a sip if you don't want it? Why does the bottle go down the drain, don't the guests finish it between them?

I drink a bottle of white wine, sometimes 2, every weekend (Friday-Sunday nights).

I cut out weeknight drinking a few months ago.

Most of my friends don’t drink at all anymore.

Me and partner never drink in the house. Pre-kids we would occasionally have a beer with tea at the weekend but very rarely. Now we only drink socially. I think we are probably odd ones out in our friendship group. A lot of friends will have a beer/wine most nights and more at the weekends. We just don't see the point.

I don't drink often. I discovered two cans of out of date lager in my house recently. I have drunk one and will probably have the other this weekend. I have a bottle of gin that I've had for probably six years, maybe seven, still unopened, and a bottle of wine that was given to me just before COVID.

On average in total I maybe have a lager every three or four weeks or so. Everything else less often. At home, maybe once every couple of months.

I am clearly a different drinking picture altogether. I don't drink every night, but when I do it's typically 2 large glasses, often the third too. I rarely go over that, but occasionally, if I'm out out, I may have a something before and if there's cheese, always a port after. Yes, I know it's not recommended, no I don't really care.

I drink rarely. I work my way through a bottle of Baileys in the month of December (it just isn't the same at any other time!). I might have a wine spritzer or a larger shandy on a couple of boiling days in summer when we throw a BBQ. And I'll have a few Gin & Lemonade's at 'big events' - weddings, big work do's etc.

It's not unusual for me to go several months at a time being teetotal though, I'm just not really bothered about alcohol.

Dh is the polar opposite. He enjoys red and white wine, beers and larger and has a collection of expensive single malts. He probably drinks every other day - either a glass of wine or two, a couple of single malts before bed, or two or three beers in the garden on a nice evening.

If we go for a nice meal I'm more than happy with soft drinks (I cant drink alcohol with a meal anyway, I need to properly wash it down!) - but not having a nice bottle of wine to go with it would really dampen dh's enjoyment.

No alcohol is "normal" for your body.
Even being a pirate 🦜
😂
Sorry.