How bad is a glass of wine per night?

[flossie72]

Roughly 2.5 bottles a week - over the recommended units by quite a bit. But isn’t a significant amount per night. Just habitual at this point, and enjoyable over dinner.

That's a very large glass every night 😂

I don't think a couple of bottles a week if terrible but I'd try to give yourself a night or two off.

I usually have at least 2 nights off per week but over the last fortnight due to various things (holidays etc) I think I’ve had a glass of wine pretty much nightly.

A bottle lasts me about 3 nights, sometimes 2 depending on the pouring 🙈

Sounds right to me. Buy as good a quality as you can afford.

If you're going through half or a third of a bottle a night, that's a fair bit more than a glass a night. I'd be a bit worried that you're not facing up to the actual amount you drink, which isn't a great sign.

Personally I don't think a couple of glasses a night is loads, I won't be particularly concerned about a friend who drank this amount, as long as there were a couple of days off. I'm not a doctor though.

I think you need to be careful that you don't gradually increase to a half bottle every night, which can lead to a bottle every night. I've know a few women who ended up with a bottle a night habit, and it's way too much.

I think you need to work out what exactly you're getting out of drinking. When I was in my late 20s my then flatmate and I got into the habit of having a lovely big gin and tonic when we got in from work, and after a few months realised it wasn't the best habit, so cut it back to just Fridays.

I'm single and living alone now - happily! - and I rarely drink at home because I've realised that alcohol is an enjoyable social thing for me, so very happy to open a bottle of wine when friends/ are around, but rarely do it when I'm by myself - eating chocolate has pretty much become my cosy night in treat, which has it's own health problems.

So, try to work out why you're drinking - and I write this as someone who likes drinking, likes the buzz, likes the conviviality, likes the taste, likes to split a bottle of wine with a friend.

In my case, drinking to relax after work was becoming too much of a good thing - 1 drink became 2 - but it was easy to stop because it wasn't too engrained as a habit. I think I ended up de-stressing by cooking from scratch rather than heating something up.

I would look for healthier ways to de stress - for example going to the gym or exercising.

At most I would get through half a bottle in one night. I certainly wouldn’t be able to drink a full bottle. Did it in my youth, not now.

Ordinarily it would be less. I do usually have at least 2 nights off but I can’t deny I do enjoy sitting down with a glass of wine at the end of the day. I know there are healthier ways to relax but I don’t really have the time or motivation for them at the moment. I would say it’s a combination of boredom, habit and enjoyment. But I am very cautious not to let it creep up to more and can easily leave it after a glass or two.

Try a soft drink in a wine glass. You'd be surprised that the attraction is the habit and the nice glass rather than the drink itself. I would say 2.5 bottles a week is quite a lot, so see if you can substitute it with a non alcoholic beverage.

Giving your liver a rest is important.
Ideally 3 days rest a week.
Have you had your bloods done?
Checked for liver function and fat on the liver?
Might put you mind at rest or give you food for thought!

A bottle of wine is 6 glasses, so that's an average of two glasses a night (or 3 units)

We clearly drink very different sized glasses!

It’s quite a lot because a standard glass is 125ml and there are 6 glasses in a bottle. So 2.5 bottle is actually equivalent to 15 measured glasses- you are consuming a lot but no judgement because I did this!!

yes as standard measure of wine is tiny and no one would pour that at home but it’s how units are measures so careful not to delude yourself into thinking 1 glass is 1 unit when it may be 3 or 4

Aim for three consecutive alcohol free nights per week to give the liver a rest.

Watch “Binge Drinking and Me” on iPlayer. It is eye opening.

Yes, i occasionally buy a bottle of wine and it easily lasts me a week. Honestly, fill your wine glass with water and then put the water in a measuring jug and you might be surprised how much your wine glass holds. It must be a lot.

I got in to the habit of drinking every night. So I just stopped. It was habit and now I don’t miss it. I will drink at Christmas though! There’s really no amount that’s good, and you are drinking more than you should. Could start by the no drinking Monday to Thursday rule.
I also agree with putting a soft drink in a wine glass - I use a pomegranate cordial with soda water - really refreshing.

It’s not ideal. Try and break the habit a bit. Even a couple of nights off a week to begin with.

I quit drinking wine (which I used to enjoy) because it always brings on menopausal hot flushes these days. I just can’t cope with it like I did plus I can’t afford the calories. I have started having a glass of water with ice and lemon or lime with dinner and whilst cooking when I used to have wine and have surprised myself that I don’t miss it. I don’t put it in a wine glass but I do use the nice posh cut glass tumblers. Recently I had a few glasses of red wine when a friend came over and I felt really crap the next day. I think I am only going to drink on special occasions now (and I never would have thought I would say that)

No level is safe.

https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health

I’m surprised you’re even feeling satisfied with one glass if you’re drinking one every day

One of the features of my father’s alcoholism is that he refers to any amount of wine as a “glass of wine” even if it ends up being 2-3 glasses. He also pours enormous glasses full to the brim. So 2 glasses is easily 2/3 of a bottle but he still says he has “a glass of wine”. It’s part of the self deception.

if you’re drinking 2.5 bottles a week that’s a rate of 268ml a night. Thats well over twice a standard pour. If the wine is 14% that’s 3.75 units in one of your “glasses”.

i don’t know you or anything about how you drink but the way you minimise the amount reminds me vividly of the alcoholic in my life. I think you need to at least be uneuphemistic about the amount and stop hiding behind “a glass”. “I drink (eg) 3-4 units a night, every night” is more accurate. I also think that if you’re asking yourself “is this too much/a problem?” then that in itself is a sign.

Lmao

OP it's a slippery slope as you know. Have a week or two off, put the money you save into a fund for something nice (new dress, app subscription).

It's not the glass of wine you are having per se, it's all the other wine you are already drinking without acknowledging it, and all that other wine again you will end up drinking as a matter first of habit then of need if you keep going and don't give yourself a break from it.

And yet…

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/red-wine/art-20048281

For the OP, one glass a night is clearly better than 2 or 3, but I’m not sure I’d enjoy that little and often approach…I’d rather have a couple of glasses with a meal a few times a week, and skip it the other 4 nights. A bit like intermittent fasting, but for alcohol ;)

You’re not just having a glass of wine a night though are you. Half a bottle is way more than one glass. Of you’ve got big glasses it doesn’t change the quantity of wined it’s still a large amount every day. I personally don’t see the harm in one glass most nights, as long as it is actually one glass amount, and you have a couple of nights off, but 2 glasses up to half a bottle is most nights is too much.

I’ve swapped wine for 0% alcohol Tanquery gin with tonic, ice and lemon slice. It’s a very good replacement and I honestly don’t miss the wine

It’s absolutely fine because it’s middle class nice wine drinking by a woman and not a homeless man drinking cider in a park.

*that’s the prevailing view. I don’t agree with it. Alcohol is a toxin, implicated in cancer and other diseases. Give your liver a rest for some days a month I guess.