This is some useful information about what constitutes a standard drink for your drink diaries, what is risky drinking and some of the benefits of cutting down.

‍

Download the PDF:

Clean Slate Clinic - Alcohol information.pdf

‍

Download the Word document:

Clean Slate Clinic - Alcohol information.docx

‍

Assessing your alcohol intake

‍

Typical servings of alcohol tend to be considerably higher than one standard drink - this is important when calculating your daily and weekly alcohol intake - people are often surprised at how many standard drinks they actually consume.

‍

Lower Risk Drinking

‍

Lower risk drinking is defined as regularly drinking no more than 10 standard drinks for men and women.

‍

Lower risk drinking is associated with: increased relaxation; sociability; and reduced risk of heart disease (for men over 40 and post menopausal women)

‍

Risky Drinking

‍

Risky drinking is defined as regularly drinking 16-40 standard drinks per week for men and 10 - 28 standard drinks for women.

‍

Harmful Drinking

‍

Harmful drinking is defined as regularly drinking 40+ standard drinks per week for men and 28+ standard drinks for women.

‍

Risky and harmful drinking have progressively increasing risk of:

‍

• Low energy
• Memory loss
• Relationship problems
• Cancer
• Depression
• Insomnia
• Impotence
• Injury
• Cardio-vascular disease
• Alcohol dependence
• High blood pressure
• Liver disease

‍

Benefits of Cutting Down

‍

There are many benefits to cutting down your alcohol intake, particularly if you are drinking at risky or harmful levels.

‍

Psychological / Social / Financial Benefits

‍

• Improved mood
• Improved relationships
• Reduced risks of drink driving
• Financial savings

‍

Physical Benefits

‍

• Better sleep
• More energy
• Weight loss
• No hangovers
• Reduced risk of injury
• Improved memory
• Better physical shape
• Reduced risk of high blood pressure / cardiovascular disease
• Reduced risk of cancer
• Reduced risk of liver disease
• Reduced risks of brain damage