I haven't checked into it but I found this article interesting:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=8&ved=0CCUQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-488682%2FSafe-drinking-limits-simply-guess.html&ei=I4EBS57gBZCmMdHZnZII&usg=AFQjCNGR8fB-vF5_YH7AU7fE5pJ-no_D9A&sig2=EqVseVMa5Luh-NZjVYzpLw

Hi Lo0p,

This is a subject that has intrigued me for many years. I find it interesting to compare "safe drinking limits" for different countries around the globe. I recently provided a link to one such document and, for convenience, I have also provided the link here:

http://www.drinkingandyou.com/site/uk/biggy.htm

V.

Thanks for posting this Lo0p. It should come as a surprise to nobody that the safe drinking limits were simply made up on the spot. This is a reflection on the general lack of scientific rigor when to comes to thinking about alcohol use, particularly in the US. TSM stands out in the respect that it is based on science, and disregards unnecessary moralism.

Also, to imagine that there could be one standard safe level of drinking, without regard to general health, weight, constitution, diet, and many other factors is patently absurd. As usual, the application of some common sense and "listening to your body" is key here.

This article seems to imply that drinking up to 35 units/week is not harmful to men. I find this very difficult to believe. There seems to be a real threshold in drinking level around 25u/week or so. Those of us here who drop below that 25u/week or so range seem to able to mostly control our drinking. There is also evidence of this in TSM studies.

In the 35u+/week range on a consistent basis, ones drinking is mostly uncontrollable. Remember, this is 6-7 bottles of wine/week. Most healthy people don't drink 6-7 bottles of wine per week. Once in this range of consumption on a consistent basis, it is very easy to hit 40,50,60+ units/week.

This article states 36-52u/week for men is only moderate risk. At this level of drinking, most people would be intoxicated 2-3 days/week at least. This is FAR from normal and healthy.

VERY suspect article....

Q

it (the newspaper) is the mail - a tabloid rag. I wouldn't give it much credence

The best study for me is what my body is telling me is too much AL and the length of time I've been drinking my liver should be in the toilet, but thank God my liver is great . . .go figure. That might not be true for someone else indulging in the same amount as I am, so one should know their own body for signs of danger and a study can't tell you what your body is telling you (you know the signs). The best way is listen to your own body. Just my thoughts.

corkit

It's in UK units. 35 UK units is 20 US units.

World Health Organization standards are apparently the same:

The WHO’s International Guide for Monitoring Alcohol Consumption and Related Harm set out drinking ranges that qualified people as being at low, medium or high-risk of chronic alcohol-related harm. For men, less than 35 weekly units was low-risk, 36-52.5 was medium-risk and above 53 was high-risk. Women were low-risk below 17.5 units, medium between 18 and 35 and high above 36.

They made these recommendations based on a large study:

Relation between Average Alcohol Consumption and Disease: An Overview.
Gutjahr E, Gmel G, Rehm J:
Eur Addict Res 2001;7:117-127 (DOI: 10.1159/000050729)

Thanks for that link! It provided a very interesting comparison for different countries. It's interesting to see Finland's guidelines since that is where Dr. Sinclair does his research.

I have posted this link http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh23-1/05-14.pdf in another thread for US NIAAA guidelines where it contains one widely accepted definition for heavy, moderate, light and (virtually) abstinent, although the article itself endorse anything more than the official Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a document produced jointly by DHHS and USDA. The article considers the differences between countries, social drinking, adolescents, pregnant females, weight differences, age differences, and even researchers observational differences. There are many citations in the article. It is an interesting read.

Another thought is that the "safe" limit (really “low risk” levels and patterns of alcohol consumption) is obviously somewhere between zero and infinity. Clearly, large numbers are bad, but how large? And is zero better than a higher number? Studies suggest that light to moderate drinkers live longer than abstinent ones, the theory being, that the reduced stress from mild drinking does a body good in the long run. Heavy drinkers had much shorter lives. I need to google these articles/studies and post a link... I'll do that later. Anyway, perhaps we are asking the wrong question. Instead of "how many drinks are within a safe limit", the question should be "how many drinks per week will statistically maximize my lifespan by improving my overall health".

Something to consider.

Bob