ALCOHOL UNIT
CALCULATOR

According to the NHS, we are advised to monitor our alcohol consumption, but how many of us truly understand what a unit of alcohol is?

With a variety of drinks and glass sizes available, from shots to pints – not to mention bottles – it’s easy to become confused about how many units are in your drink.

The concept of counting alcohol units was first introduced in the UK in 1987 to help people keep track of their drinking.

Units are a straightforward way of expressing the quantity of pure alcohol in a drink.

One unit equals 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol, which is roughly the amount of alcohol the average adult can process in an hour.

In theory, this means that within an hour, there should be little or no alcohol left in an adult’s bloodstream, although this will vary from person to person.

The number of units in a drink depends on the size of the drink and its alcohol strength.

For instance, a pint of strong lager contains 3 units of alcohol, whereas the same volume of lower-strength lager has just over 2 units.

Understanding your units will help you stay in control of your drinking.

To keep health risks from alcohol to a minimum if you drink most weeks:

Men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis.

Spread your drinking over 3 or more days if you regularly drink as much as 14 units a week.

If you want to cut down, try to have several drink-free days each week.

If you are drinking more than your score you may have alcohol dependency issues and could benefit from help, book a call today!