Alcohol

Alcohol - Advice and Support Information

Many people who see themselves as ‘social drinkers’ are at risk of developing long-term health conditions because of the amount of alcohol they regularly drink. Regularly exceeding the recommended units limit can increase your risk of developing a wide range of long-term health problems including cancers, strokes and heart attacks. Alcohol’s hidden harms usually only emerge after a number of years, by which time serious health problems have developed.

Know your units

Did you know a standard glass of wine can contain as many calories as a piece of chocolate, and a pint of lager has about the same number of calories as a packet of crisps?

Alcohol drinks are high in calories and so sticking within the guidelines lowers your risk of harming your health. Cutting back on the amount you drink can really help to reduce your calorie intake.

You can find out the calorie content of many more drinks using the Drinkaware unit and calorie calculator.

The risk of drinking too much

Drinkers can be divided into three risk categories: 

• lower-risk drinkers 
• increasing-risk drinkers
• higher-risk drinkers

Lower-risk drinking means that you have a low risk of causing yourself future harm.  However, drinking consistently within these limits is called "lower-risk" rather than "safe" because drinking alcohol is never completely safe.  Being in the lower-risk category means you are not regularly drinking more than the NHS recommended unit limit.

Increasing-risk drinking increases the risk of damaging your health. Alcohol affects all parts and systems of the body, and it can play a role in numerous medical conditions. Drinking at this level means you are regularly drinking above the recommended unit level. 

Higher-risk drinking means you have an even higher risk of damaging your health compared with increasing-risk drinkers.  Higher-risk drinking is:

• regularly drinking more than 8 units a day or 50 units a week if you're a man
• regularly drinking more than 6 units a day or 35 units a week if you're a woman 

Again, alcohol affects the whole body and can play a role in numerous medical conditions. You have a much higher risk of developing alcohol-related health problems. Your body has probably suffered some damage already, even if you’re not yet aware of it.

How much are you drinking?

Calculate or log how many alcohol units you are drinking with a free, easy to use NHS Drinks Tracker app. 

Need support?

Better Health NHS - Drink Less 

Better Health is the latest campaign from NHS which aims to encourage everyone to make healthy changes and empower adults and children to live healthier lives.

Whether you want to lose weight, get active, drink less or quit smoking, Better Health gives people the tools and resources to make small changes to improve their health.

The Drink Less campaign highlights the benefits to drinking less and provide simple tips and tools to help you start cutting down your alcohol intake.

Find out more on the Drink Less page.

Your Health Notts

Your Health Notts is Nottinghamshire’s Alcohol Reduction service who provide free guidance on safer alcohol drinking across all of their lifestyle services.

They can support with simple, realistic messages to help reduce your alcohol intake. They deliver a range of 1-1 and group sessions that support people to reduce their alcohol intake and drink within the recommended guidelines. The supportive, non-judgemental sessions aim to raise awareness of the adverse health consequences associated with alcohol consumption.

Get in touch today by telephoning 0115 7722515 or visit Your Health Notts - drink less alcohol

Signposting