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Know your alcohol units

Alcohol units | Units of alcohol | Know your alcohol limits

We're always being told to count our units and make sure we don't drink too much, but how many of us actually know how many units of alcohol are in our regular drinks?

So, whether you're a fan of bottled beers, a glass of red or a quick gin and tonic, let us help you understand how many units of alcohol are in which drinks...

The guidelines

The advice from the Department of Health is:

Men should drink no more than 21 units of alcohol per week (and no more than four units in any one day).
Women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week (and no more than three units in any one day).

In general, the more you drink above the safe limits, the more harmful alcohol is likely to be. And remember, binge drinking can be harmful even though the weekly total may not seem too high.

For example, if you only drink once or twice a week, but when you do you drink 4-5 pints of beer each time, or a bottle of wine each time, then this is a risk to your health.

Next: How many units are you drinking?

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Florence, about 1 year

But surely I can drink a bit more at Christmas, if I take it easy for the rest of the year?

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Today's health poll

With Kate Winslet's recent marriage split, do you think celebrities are too quick to give up on marriage?

Yes - a marriage needs to be worked at! 39%
No - I'm sure they try to make it work as well as they can 8%
It depends on the celebrity - some seem to go through relationships very quickly 29%
Not sure - there seems to be more pressure on celeb relationships to succeed 8%
I think the world of celebrities works differently to the normal world 16%