So, is a bottle of wine too much?

[MilkMonitor]

My SIL is lovely. She's got four children all of whom she loves and is a great mum as far as I can see.

But I'm concerned. I was round yesterday and she was doing her recycling bins and was tipped wine bottles into the right box. I said she must have a lot of dinner parties but she told me drinks a bottle of wine every night. Erm, I was amazed not least because she doesn't seem to have a hangover or anything. But she said she's done it for years.

Is a bottle of wine a night a lot? Or am I being nosey and naive?

read this thread

its QUITE a lot in my opinion.
certainly more that the recommended maximum for safe drinking
but probably not, if Im honest, enough to make me think she is a raging alcoholic especially if you have never noticed anything that has made you concerned before.

I've been drinking a bottle of wine a night for years.

My DH does. It worries me terribly. But for him it's normal

I think otherside means this thread

Grrr, I hate linking. Thanks wmmchocolate.

my old man has done it practically my whole life and it never bothered him.
i think drink is a very persoanl thing with regards how much someone can drink, i think the only true test of wether or not someone is drinking too much is if it starts to affect their health,social life or professionall life in an negative manner.

W&B you may have a point. I'm legless on one glass so I just don't bother trying to drink, whereas dh can drink two bottles and be virtually unaffected (albeit irritating!)

But people who can drink a lot without getting drunk, feeling rough in the short term can still be doing their bodies serious damage....

Yes, I've always had a high threshold for alcohol tolerance. A bottle seems like nothing to me. I don't drive, either, so there's no possibility of me going out on the roads with alcohol in my bloodstream.

That said, I never, ever touch spirits. I'm purely a red wine girl.

It's really none of your business. Don't you have other things to be 'concerned' about.

"But people who can drink a lot without getting drunk, feeling rough in the short term can still be doing their bodies serious damage"

that's very true and i accept that. but surely adverse health affects are a given to some degree with any indulgence be it comfort food,drinking or smoking. as i said before it is a hard thing to judge and if it is affecting your health in a srious way then it is too much regardless of wether you get drunk or not. but to me it seems as though the op was looking at it in more of a "might she have a drink problem/ borderline alcoholic"
if my gf comes away with me and my friends she is always astounded by the amount of drink we take, and i suppose we are quite heavy when on vacation etc, she would still think that i personally drink a lot where as within my group i would be quite average maybe even bordering on light weight compared to others. however i certainly have no drink related problems, which is i why i said the judging of these things outside of medical/health affects is quite a personal and subjective thing.

I was just interested to know, expat. You sound tense!

You sound busy body.

I mean, honestly, who goes commenting on stuff like this?

You asked 'am I being nosey' and I said yes. A lot of folks don't go around noticing stuff like that, much less remarking on it.

Why ask for opinions if you then assume those who don't agree with you are somehow 'tense'?

Now I'm worried that people will be examining the contents of my recycling box. It's not the wine bottles that worry me, it's all the chocolate spread jars.... DS#1 has developed a 'habit' recently.. Can't be good for him...

Health wise it probably isn't that great. But have to say that it really isn't up to you to comment.

lol if you saw inside my recycling bins you would be trying to check me into rehab. leave her alone and let her enjoy her wine in peace

Lord, yes. If someone saw my bottle bin they'd think Amy Winehouse and Dean Martin had shacked up

But you know what I mean ..

Erm, she's a relative and a friend. I was just concerned. I didn't broach her about it in case I caused offence and my concern was unfounded. I thought I would check on here first as I've always found Mumsnet to be a great source of advice. Apart from the odd snide person.

Is that ok with you? Absolutely no call to be rude.

I shouldn't imagine it is any worse for you than smoking 10 fags a day

i thinkit sounds a lot, but if she is unashamed of it, it is probably ok.