Do you drink more than you think?

Although most of us know roughly what the Government guidelines on drinking are, when it comes to what's in a drink, things become a little more hazy. (In case you're already befuddled, the Government's safe drinking guidelines are no more than two to three units a day regularly for women; three to four units for men.)

But it's not all our fault. Part of the confusion arises from the Office for National Statistics having reassessed how they measure the alcohol content of what we drink. Until late 2007, it was assumed that a small glass of wine and a half of beer each equalled one unit. And that's not actually true now.

This was the first change in working out the figures for 30 years, and in the meantime wine and lager have got stronger, and publicans and those of us who drink at home have got more generous with our measures.

So what's a unit?

One unit is 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol, which is the amount of pure alcohol in a 25ml single measure of spirits (alcohol by volume, or ABV, 40%), a third of a pint of beer (ABV 5-6%) or half a standard (175ml) glass of red wine (ABV 12%).

Size matters

In bars and pubs, draught beer, lager and cider usually come by the pint and half-pint, and in bottles of 500ml and 330ml. At home, it comes in 500ml or 330ml cans, or sometimes 250ml little bottles

With wine, the measures are a little more, erm, fluid. To modern eyes, a 'small' glass of wine, at 125ml - or just over eight tablespoonsful - looks small. Over the years the size of our wine glasses has increased. Our current 'large' 250ml glass - double the size of the 1970s vessel - is about a third of a bottle.

Below is a guide to what's in our drinks, and we can see that just one large glass of Rioja exceeds the recommended daily intake for a woman.

Beer, lager, cider

1 pint bitter (4% ABV, eg John Smith's)  = 2.27 units

1 pint lager (5% ABV, eg Heineken) =  2.84 units

1 pint cider (4.5% ABV, eg Strongbow ) = 2.56 units

Wine

125ml glass Champagne (12% ABV, eg Veuve Clicquot) = 1.5 units

125ml glass dry white wine  (12% ABV, eg Montana Sauvignon Blanc) = 1.61 units

250ml glass = 3.23 units

125ml glass red wine  (13% ABV, eg Campo Viejo Rioja) = 1.63 units

250ml glass = 3.25 units

Spirits

25ml (a single) gin (37.5% ABV, eg  Gordon's) = 0.94 units

25ml (a single) vodka (37.5% ABV, eg Smirnoff Red) = 0.94 units

25ml (a single) rum (37.5% ABV, eg Bacardi) = 0.94 units

Liqueurs

50ml (a single) cream liqueur (37.5% ABV, eg Bailey's) = 0.85 units

50ml (a single) Cointreau (40% ABV) = 1.88 units

The health risks

In the long term, drinking too much can contribute to many health problems, including liver disease, osteoporosis, pancreatitis, stomach ulcers, infertility, heart disease, raised blood pressure, stroke, dementia and brain damage. It can also increase the risk of certain cancers, including breast cancer and cancer of the gullet. And it's associated with mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety.

Think you should drink less? 

If you suspect - or know - that you should cut your consumption, here are some ideas to help.

Keep a drinking diary: you can do this in classic fashion, with pencil and paper (and a calculator will come in handy!), or register on the Drink Aware website for an online version (which does the maths for you too). The NHS also has an online alcohol unit calculator.

Have 'don't drink' days: decide not to drink on certain days of the week

Destress differently: use a different activity, such as yoga, swimming or a phone call to a friend, to ease away the stress of the day, instead of drinking

This is not a substitute for medical advice. If you're worried see your GP. For more information, visit www.netdoctor.co.uk

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