safe considered units per day/week

craving · **Joined:** Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:50 am **Posts:** 246

Hello,

Are there any views on what amount of US units per day or week can be considered safe?

With safe I mean not health damaging.

Thanks,

craving · **Joined:** Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:50 am **Posts:** 246

drink2much wrote:

In the UK it is 21 units for men, 14 for women, per week (which would translate as 11.8 or 7.9 for women)

That would mean 12 US units / week are considered as not health damaging. (for men)

So my current alcohol consume would not be considered damaging then ...

cessation · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 2:38 pm

From pages 114 & 115 in The Cure for Alcoholism:

Quote:

Drinking Measures

In the United States, one drink unit is defined as having one-half ounce of pure alcohol, such as the following:

10–12 oz of beer (4–5% alcohol) = 1 drink
8–12 oz of wine cooler (4–6% alcohol) = 1 drink
4– 5 oz of table wine (9–12% alcohol) = 1 drink
2.5 oz of fortified wine (20% alcohol) = 1 drink
1.25 oz of 80 proof distilled spirits (40% alcohol) = 1 drink
1 oz of 100 proof distilled spirits (50% alcohol) = 1 drink

International measures:

1 bottle (330 ml) beer (4.7% alcohol content) = 1 drink
1 mug of beer (4.7% alcohol) = 1.5 drinks
1 bottle strong beer (6% alcohol) = 1.3 drinks
1 mug strong beer (10% alcohol) = 2 drinks
1 glass (12 cl) wine (10% alcohol) = 1 drink
1 bottle (75 cl) wine (10% alcohol) = 6.5 drinks
1 glass (8 cl) fortified wine (20% alcohol) = 1 drink
1 bottle (75 cl) fortified wine (20% alcohol) = 9.5 drinks
1 shot (4 cl) spirits (40% alcohol) = 1 drink
1 small bottle (50 cl) spirits (40% alcohol) = 12 drinks
1 bottle (70 cl) spirits (40% alcohol) = 17.5 drinks
Wines include champagne.
Fortified wines include sherry, port, and vermouth.
Spirits include vodka, gin, whiskey, rum, cognac, and liquors.

Upper Limits of Moderate Drinking

Men: Twenty-four units per week or five units on any single drinking session
Women: Eighteen units per week or four units on any single drinking session

For assistance in counting drink units, visit this Web site: http://www.knowyourlimits.info

craving · **Joined:** Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:50 am **Posts:** 246

cessation wrote:

Upper Limits of Moderate Drinking

Men: Twenty-four units per week or five units on any single drinking session
Women: Eighteen units per week or four units on any single drinking session

Thanks for the reference.

24 units / week - with maximum 5 units per day. (for male)

That is huge in my opinion. If I would drink 24 units per week I would consider it for my personal feeling as health damaging.

netty · **Joined:** Thu Mar 19, 2009 10:44 am **Posts:** 71

craving wrote:

cessation wrote:

Upper Limits of Moderate Drinking

Men: Twenty-four units per week or five units on any single drinking session
Women: Eighteen units per week or four units on any single drinking session

Thanks for the reference.

24 units / week - with maximum 5 units per day. (for male)

That is huge in my opinion. If I would drink 24 units per week I would consider it for my personal feeling as health damaging.

I agree with you. The book's implied recommendation in this regard requires deeper analysis.
If you refer to the source research paper for the figures quoted in the book (see footnote 59), you'll discover it refers to a Finnish study, where a unit is defined as 12g of pure ethanol, and the "upper limit of moderate drinking " unit figures are more accurately described as "criteria for heavy drinking" units. For calculation purposes, note that 12g of ethanol = 1.5 units UK, and .86 units in the US. In addition, the book erroneously reflects 18 units (12g ethanol) as the upper limit for women, when in fact the research paper reflects 16 units as the criteria for heavy drinking for women. Converting these figures to US units results in the conclusion that 14 US units per week is the Finnish criteria for heavy drinking for women, and 21 US units per week is the Finnish criteria for heavy drinking for men. FYI: The American Journal of Public Health published an excellent article in 1995, titled "Empirically Based Guidelines for Moderate Drinking: 1-Year results from Three Studies with Problem Drinkers". This research paper indicates that moderate drinking for men is defined as consuming no more than 4 standard "Canadian" units (13.6g ethanol) in any day, and no more than 16 drinks in any week, and that women should consume no more than 3 drinks (again, 13.6g ethanol = drink) in any one day, and no more than 12 in any one week. From your posts, you definitely meet the "moderate drinking" criteria, regardless of which study is used for comparison purposes. Congratulations!

craving · **Joined:** Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:50 am **Posts:** 246

Netty,

Thank you for your very complete and very good post! You really looked into this topic. Well done!

so according to the Canadian study that would be max. 3.86 US units / day and maximum 15.4 US units / week.

So to round that to a clear value.

max. 4 US units / day and maximum 15 units / week is considered "moderate drinking"

drink2much wrote:

For most adults, moderate alcohol use--up to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women and older people--causes few if any problems. (One drink equals one 12-ounce bottle of beer or wine cooler, one 5-ounce glass of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits.)

according to that 2 UK units = 1.13 US units ... so they would be talking of maximum 1 US unit per day.

I consider the max. 4 US units / day and maximum 15 units / week more achieve-able for me.

safe considered units per day/week

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