Hi All,

Can't find the info on the forum. Anyone know what the accepted definition of a unit of alcohol is on this board? I get all sorts of definitions on the web and it seems to vary from country to country. I'm trying to get an idea of my personal consumption pattern in terms of the units used on this forum. I see all kinds of pre-TSM units reported on this site and many seem to be low. Depending on the difinition of a unit my own consumption varies anywhere between 80-230 units/week. Any help?

Thanks!

Heh, this keeps coming up. It's somewhere in The Cure for Alcoholism, but apparently we all forgot to bookmark it.

So, here are the definitions for the UK and Australia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_of_alcohol

The US doesn't generally worry about "units," instead focusing on "standard drinks." For units according to the USA definition, here is an answer from one of the few people who actually knows how to do it:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 703AAGQRIc

Hmm, looks like I should multiply everything in my signature by 1.42. Enh. They're all the same kind of beer, so I guess I'm okay as long as I'm using the same measure, but that does mean my starting consumption was more like 50 USA units. Which would be like 100 UK units . . . hunh, some of our UK posters may have more in common with me than they thought.

Anyway, that's Australian, UK, and USA units for you. I can't help with Ireland, New Zealand, or any non-English-speaking countries.

Thanks for the info. I guess the take home message is that the units posted on this forum aren't standardized. Those reported depend on the country of origin. I suppose in the end, it's not about units, but rather about the number of individual drinks that one chooses as their poison.

Cheers! Oh and I hope TSM'll help me out. I'm on it.

Hi Goatbeard,
I don't think there's a standard across the forum but this is a recommended
calculator that people use.
http://www.cleavebooks.co.uk/scol/ccalcoh3.htm

Hope it helps
Chris

Yep.



I agree. I think what really matters is that our consumption decreases, not our specific method of counting. As long as the counting is done in some consistent way, so that we can keep track, we'll be okay.

Some people don't count at all. They just sit back and wait for extinction to work its magic. I suppose that's an okay approach if one's problem is fairly small to begin with.