Know Your Booze Limit

I, like many men, like a drink. I try not to indulge too much during the week, but have been known to go over the top at the weekend and ended up with a monster hangover.

The recommended daily amount of alcohol units for a man in 4 units, or 10 units a week. that’s the equivalent to about 2 pints of beer a day or one bottle of wine a week. The recommendation varies greatly and depends on the individual’s body weight, but that’s the NHS guidelines.

Experts recommend that you leave at least 48 hours in between drinking sessions to let your body recover. I’ve had to seriously rethink my intake in light of the recent news; 100,000 deaths are expected in the next decade caused directly by alcohol.

You might not think of yourself as an alcoholic, but binge drinking is just as dangerous. There are no fixed guidelines on what constitutes as binge drinking, but it’s generally accepted that if you have more than double your daily recommended allowance in one sitting, you’re binge drinking. It’s so easy to do if you’re on a night out with mates, or if you’re on a date with a Liverpool Street escort. Just a couple of shared bottles of wine can take you over the line and cause damage to your liver.

Alcohol related deaths caused by conditions such as alcohol poisoning and liver disease have trebled in the last 25 years, bringing to total up to almost 9000 deaths in 1 year. One of the factors that has been blamed for this increase is the cheap price of alcohol. Large bottles of cider bought in your local supermarket can work out as little as 9p per unit!

Since the credit crunch, the number of people drinking in pubs has fallen, but more of us are choosing to drink at home. Many do this to save money, but it’s just as dangerous and all too easy to have a glass too many when you have the option of just passing out in bed.

I’m going to try to stick to the NHS guidelines for a few reasons; for one thing, I’m vain and I don’t want to ruin my appearance with the dehydrating effects of alcohol. It gives you wrinkles sooner and can cause a red face from burst blood vessels. Secondly, I actually really enjoy life and would rather prolong it as much as I can. And thirdly, I really enjoy sex and too much booze has a bad effect on that! It’s harder to get an erection if you’re drunk, and the nausea and headaches caused by a hangover make morning sex impossible. I’m sticking to the limit!