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.

I mean its over the guidelines, but not disastrously so.

For me the issue isn’t so much the amount of alcohol consumed its the habititualisation.

You’re probably not (yet) at the point of irreversible organ damage but you associate a glass of wine with relaxation and its part of your daily routine.

Thats when it becomes problematic. I think you do need to look at why its become a default and train yourself out of it. Find other ways to unwind.

Medical research actually shows that drinking a glass a day is SIGNIFICANTLY less harmful that drinking the same amount in one go or split only into 2 days.

my parents consumed a glass of wine with dinner every night for their entire married lives. Neither of them have ever had any drink related illness or issues and are mid 80s now.

Absolutely fine IMO.

I’m not arguing. I am not going to go along with someone calling me an alcoholic when I’ve seen alcoholism and I know my drinking doesn’t match the volume, behaviour or consequences that true alcoholism generally means.

I have posted not for people to diagnose me and accuse me of being defensive, but to gauge opinion. It’s a discussion. But if I respond in any way I’m told I’m minimising and arguing.

I do think I drink too much and probably need to reframe my habits. Ordinarily I would at least have a Monday and Tuesday sober but due to half term and being away etc it’s ended up being pretty much most nights for about 2 weeks which has definitely made me think that daily drinking for prolonged periods is not good. My routine will be back to normal next week.

Red wine is "good for your heart" because of the grapes in it, not due to alcohol. You could get the same benefit eating grapes.

One glass of wine a day increases your risk of multiple cancers so eating grapes is a far healthier way to keep your heart healthy.

It's also adding up to an extra day's worth of calories each week...

I can do a bottle a night when I have stuff going on. I try and get lower alcohol.

I think it's quite a bit really OP.Maybe see if it's just weekends or something like that? I think its best to give your liver a rest,its easy to slip into bad habits without realising

Yes this is very true. I think I’m one of those people who has never really given much thought to my diet, exercise, alcohol intake and general lifestyle. I’ve just done what I felt like. I’m now approaching 40 and thinking I probably need to invest a bit more in my long term health.

Depends what you mean by "how bad" etc I certainly dont think it indicates any kind of problem.

What I suspect is, it's become a bit of a bad habit and over time, if you never have a break or any off days then that really isnt great for your health.

The problem with a habit is that it becomes more and more ingrained and then harder and harder to get out of. When you add alcohol to that, your tolerance builds so one glass of wine no longer gives you the buzz that you're drinking it for, so it turns into 2 glasses of wine etc Thats when a slippery slope begins and its almost imperceptible. Loads of people described this pattern during lockdown and then had a bit of a wake up call.

I think your latest post OP sums up what lots of us do. We drink or eat far more on high days and holidays and need to re-set when it’s back to work time. I’ve swopped to a smaller glass and remind myself how many calories I’m drinking. I also don’t drink on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays to give my liver a rest. I really enjoy my Monday night drink as I think Mondays need a treat. I love my wine but, like you, am aware when it gets too much.

I think you are hitting the first two items on the CAGE questionnaire on this thread:
have you ever thought you should Cut down on your drinking?
do you get Annoyed when people criticise your drinking?

The others are
have you ever felt Guilty about your drinking
Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning (Eye opener)

Most people asking this question have a drinking problem.

2 or more indicates problem drinking by the way.

For a woman alcohol intake increases your risk of breast cancer. It's not an insignificant risk either. Thats why I cut down my alcohol intake in my forties as I wasn't prepared to take this risk.

Also, I looked at your other posts OP (yes, yes, I know lol) and I think you'd have more energy, be able to lose weight more easily and sleep better if you reduced your wine intake. It might just be one glass but the effect alcohol has on sleep is shocking and even if you arent hungover, your sleep will be affected and that affects energy levels during the day.

This is a good way to look at it, think of it as trying to improve your health and drinking a bit less wine is part of that. I was drinking a couple of bottles of wine each weekend at the start of the year. Around August, I was down to a glass once a week when we go out for a meal. I have much more energy and have gone down a clothes size, that's just from watching calorie intake and cutting back on the booze. It's good to not feel like I'm relying on alcohol to unwind on an evening now.

I think your minimising your drinking. Personally, I think drinking every day is excessive, even a 'glass' a day.

I was drinking the same … 1 glass every night .

Well woman nurse told me to have at least 3 nights when I wasn’t drinking to give my liver chance to recover. It wasn’t so much the volume it was the regularity that was the issue.

I now drink about once a week ! Still only one or two glasses.

Also think that's quite a large glass. Can you cust down to a smaller glass?

I was doing this in my 40s, it was a busy time for me, lots going on and, as you've said, it was my way to relax. Hit my 50s and stopped sitting on the sofa every night with a glass or, usually, 2 of wine a night and the cheese etc that went with it.

I stopped because I'd put on weight, menopausal made sleep bloody difficult anyway never mind adding alcohol in, my blood pressure was through the roof. I needed to think about my health.

I still have a drink, but try and do so because there's a good social reason to do so, meeting friends, or having a nice meal out - I enjoy the social side of it. Also, I don't drink every time I meet friends or go out.

I've lost weight, I'm sleeping and eating better, my blood pressure has gone down.

A small * glass of wine with your evening meal - probably not going to do much harm. Sitting on the sofa with a couple of large glasses every night...not so great.

Why would you need to drink alcohol every night? I find it odd how normalised this is

There isn’t a ‘safe’ level - just a recommendation on how many units to have weekly as a maximum. This unit level still has a massive increase in cancer risk as well as other issues

I think the fact you are questioning your own consumption is more the issue here and that you have accepted it has become a habit. Right now you probably do get the result you want from you say a maximum of half a bottle, but what happens when you aren’t getting the same effect from that half a bottle. Will this increase?

Trust me OP - I’m absolutely not criticising. I’ve been there. Ive stood in your shoes. I’ve had the same opinion that ‘half a bottle is enough for me’ - and then this slowly increased to a full bottle, with a measure of vodka when I’d finished the bottle. After all, I’m just relaxing after a busy day right?

The thing is, I also don’t and never did class myself as an alcoholic or indeed ‘recovered alcoholic’. I didn’t crave alcohol. I didn’t ‘need’ it. I never did. I didn’t have a broken stop button. It just became a habit. Busy day - wine. Something slightly challenged me today - wine. It wasn’t even any reason but literally any day, it went hand in hand. Weekend drinking soon turned into having wine on a Monday night too. Then every single day of the week.

Thankfully I recognised all of this myself and forced myself to have months and months off drinking. Now I rarely drink - we have various alcohols in the house for the odd occasion so I can definitely say that alcohol addiction isnt and never was the issue, it was the habit and breaking that habit. Honestly - never felt better.

I always find these threads interesting because if you really think its problematic then just stop doing it.

If you really struggle with not doing it then doesnt that indicate there is an issue of some kind?

I am not saying you are an alcoholic or anything like that but surely, if you cannot just knock it on the head then that means you are reliant and dependent on it. That would indicate to me that this needs to be examined. Addiction comes in lots of different forms. I might only smoke 2 cigarettes a day but if I am really struggling to give them up then I am still addicted.

It's not about 'bad' it's about risk and consequences. You'd be better to do your own research and decide whether the benefit outweighs the consequences than ask other people. All you'll get here will be either reassurance from those who drink the same or more, or warnings from those who dont. The impartial information on the health risks is out there to judge for yourself.