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Original poster

white wine

22 replies

makemineaginandtonic · 24/01/2011 19:59

I can easily drink a bottle of white wine in an evening without even feeling tipsy. I love drinking it but can't help feeling guilty. I know it's more than the daily average recommended intake. Is it too much?

OP posts:
Hassled · 24/01/2011 20:00

Yes, that's way way waaaay too much. 14 units a week = 2 smallish glasses a night tops.

Seona1973 · 24/01/2011 20:00

it depends how many evenings you do it. I drink a bottle of wine on a friday but not any other night

Bunbaker · 24/01/2011 20:04

If you can drink an entire bottle of wine without feeling tipsy then you have a problem and need to start cutting back. OH likes a drink or three, but even he wouldn't want to drink a whole bottle in one go.

It is a a bit of a sore point at the moment as OH's BIL is in the last throes of destroying his liver with alcohol and his days are numbered.

BluddyMoFo · 24/01/2011 20:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
makemineaginandtonic · 24/01/2011 20:35

No I never have a hangover and I don't have any adverse affects while drinking it eg. falling over, arguing etc. I just like the taste and have it with dinner/after dinner. When I was working I would have drunk much more after work in the pub but now I am home it is so easy to see how much I'm having as I am the only one!

I have read that some people just have a higher tolerance to alcohol. Is that wishful thinking?

OP posts:
pigsinmud · 25/01/2011 10:15

If you drink a bottle of wine every day that is far too much.

I am paranoid about alcohol. I like it, but every time I have a drink I think it's too much. Yesterday I shared 2.5 bottle of wine with dh and friend. Have raging hangover today and am now in my paranoid I've got liver disease mode! Came after a weekend of drinking 1.5 bottles over 3 evenings, so am worrying.

Usually I drink 1/2 bottle of wine on Friday, Saturday & Sunday evenings. Sometime not as much as that. Is that an ok amount? Sorry slight hijack with my own worries!

If I were you I'd cut down to 1/2 bottle a day and then introduce days off.

Computer is making my hangover worse...better go.

expatinscotland · 25/01/2011 10:18

If you're only doing it once a week it shouldn't be a problem.

How about watering it down with sparkling water or something, to make a sort of spritzer, so it lasts longer.

Bunbaker · 25/01/2011 14:03

"No I never have a hangover and I don't have any adverse affects while drinking it"

That's worrying. BIL never suffered from hangovers and started drinking more and more until his liver gave out. I, on the other hand, can't drink more than two glasses of without suffering from a fearsome headache, so my alcohol consumption is a lot lower (and I have a healthier liver).

expatinscotland · 25/01/2011 14:35

'so my alcohol consumption is a lot lower (and I have a healthier liver).'

As long as you're maintaining a healthy weight! Wink

Obesity can also cause liver damage.

Bunbaker · 25/01/2011 14:40

I am 5'7", weigh 9st 5 oz, wear size 10/12 and have a BMI of 21. I have a very slim build and have never, ever been overweight in my life.

God that sounds smug!! It is just the way I am made, I just don't put weight on very easily. Three years ago I lost some weight due to ill health and had to literally stuff myself silly to put on a few pounds.

RubyRoseRed · 25/01/2011 16:26

I know many people who regularly drink that much.....think it's more common than people realise tbh

TheVisitor · 25/01/2011 16:28

Bunbaker, once upon a time I was just like you. :P

compo · 25/01/2011 16:31

Bunbaker - how old are you and do you have kids? I was once like you too Envy

Bunbaker · 25/01/2011 16:33

"I know many people who regularly drink that much.....think it's more common than people realise tbh"
Sadly you are right. Hospitals are now seeing far more people in their 20s and 30s with liver damage caused by drinking to excess. I enjoy a glass or two of wine, but glass three gives me a headache and glass four gives me a monster hangover. I know because I drank three and a half glasses of wine on Friday and spent most of Saturday in bed feeling crap.

It is Tuesday now and I still can't face the idea of drinking alcohol.

Bunbaker · 25/01/2011 16:34

compo I am 52 and have a ten year old daughter.

expatinscotland · 25/01/2011 16:51

'I enjoy a glass or two of wine, but glass three gives me a headache and glass four gives me a monster hangover. I know because I drank three and a half glasses of wine on Friday and spent most of Saturday in bed feeling crap.'

That's not true for everyone and it's not true of all people who are not overdrinking.

Some people can drink that amount of a weekend night and not have a headache or hangover.

Having no headache or hangover does not automatically mean a person is a problem drinker or is going to have liver damage.

Not everyone gets a headache or hangover.

Bunbaker · 25/01/2011 17:00

"Not everyone gets a headache or hangover."

I know. I realise that I am probably oversensitive to alcohol, but I know that BIL's alcoholism wasn't helped by the fact that he could simply carry on drinking without any apparent ill effects until it was too late.

I still think that being able to drink an entire bottle of wine and not feel like you have had a drink is worrying. It must mean that the body is used to this level of alcohol.

sb6699 · 25/01/2011 17:12

The fact that you are feeling guilty means subconsciously you know you are drinking too much.

If this is happening most nights, you have a problem. If it is every night you are on the road to becoming a "functioning alcoholic" if you are not already.

Sorry to be blunt, but you are following the same pattern as my father who ended up losing everything before he realised there was a problem.

Original poster
makemineaginandtonic · 25/01/2011 19:52

I have always thought of an "alcoholic" as somone who needed a drink in the morning to feel "normal". What defines an alcoholic?

When I worked I went out a lot at lunchtimes and after work and probably drank much more but it was part of the "culture" and therefore I never questioned it or felt guilty.

Now I am drinking at home and it is really obvious how much I'm drinking and whilst I enjoy a drink I want to make sure it doesn't turn from something enjoyable into a problem.

I do not drink a whole bottle of wine every night. Maybe 3 nights a week and the other nights I don't drink. I guess what I was hoping was someone would say it is ok, because I enjoy it.

OP posts:
Bunbaker · 25/01/2011 20:39

Three bottles of wine a week represents 27 units of alcohol. The fact that this is seen as "normal" or acceptable drinking is irrelevant. Drinking 27 plus units a week is simply not healthy.

You might find this interesting.

expatinscotland · 25/01/2011 20:40

People will come on here and go, 'OMG, that's 21 units! You will surely get liver disease'. But the fact is the 14 units thing is arbitrary.

If your wine is 11%, it'll be 9 units/bottle, so 27 units.

Personally, not my thing, but it's hardly an Earth-shattering number that's a guarantee of early death.

expatinscotland · 25/01/2011 20:42

Plenty of evidence out there, easily Google-able, that the 14 units number is arbitrary and also chosen because the British public is seen as too stupid to be able to accurately add up the number of units they drink.

Again, not my thing, 3 bottles of wine/week. For starters, I can't afford to drink.

But it's not exactly an Earth-shattering amount.

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