Drinking
Having a drink or two is sociable. In fact, it is part of the culture in many societies. Alcohol is highly relaxing and eases inhibitions. When consumed moderately, alcohol may actually help protect the heart and circulation.
However, 1 in 4 men drinks far too much and too often. If you go over the top with your drinking on a regular basis, then you will most likely end up damaging your body.
Drinking too much is also, in many cases, responsible for accidents, relationship problems, poor work performance and even crime. The bottom line here is never drink too much, whatever else you decide to do with alcohol.
Now you may ask how much is too much. Well, the daily recommended intake of alcohol for men is between 3 to 4 units. One unit is:
• Half a pint of beer or lager
• A single normal pub measure of whisky
• A small glass of wine
And yes too much alcohol can cause quite a few unwanted things, including:
• High blood pressure – main cause of strokes and heart attacks
• Indigestion
• Obesity
• Depression
• Weight loss as well as malnutrition
• Nerve damage
• Memory loss
Having learnt all the possible consequences, you might now like to know more about responsible drinking. For example, a can of extra strong beer equals 2 pints of ordinary strength beer, amounting to 4 units of alcohol. A glass of wine is equal to 2 units, since the average wine glass if 175ml rather than the usual conventional 125ml. An ordinary measure of spirit is often more generous than a pub measure.
To calculate the amount of units, you need to find out the amount of alcohol in millilitres and then the strength of the drink. This is widely known as the percentage alcohol-by-volume aka proof.
And to work out the amount of units in a drink, you have to multiply the amount of liquid in ml by the percentage ABV before dividing it by 1,000