Helpful information and support

• Check if your drinking is having an effect on your health by doing the Alcohol Change Quiz.
• Information on the harms of drinking too much and how to reduce drinking can be found on the NHS website. Information is also available on the Alcohol Change UK website.
• For support and advice for under-18s check out the SORTED service, or call on: 01670 536 400.
• Information about our treatment and recovery service can be found on the NHS website, or call direct on: 01670 798 200. 
• Visit Drinkaware to find out about the laws on Alcohol in the UK. 
• Alcoholics Anonymous offers help to anyone who is suffering from or has experienced alcoholism. Find meetings near you on the Alcoholics Anonymous website. 
• Alcohol brief interventions are an effective intervention to prevent increasing or high-risk drinking. Professionals can access more information and e-learning modules on the NHS website.

Government guidelines on alcohol consumption

Drinking above recommended levels can have a serious risk to your health. To reduce the risk of harm, government guidelines recommend the following:

• Adults should not drink more than 14 units per week, and these should be spread out throughout the week and you should try and have a few alcohol-free days each week (see below for information on units). 
• For young people, being alcohol free is the safest option. 
• The safest approach for women who are pregnant, or planning a pregnancy, is not to drink alcohol at all, to keep risks to your baby to a minimum. Drinking in pregnancy can lead to long-term harm to the baby, with the more you drink the greater the risk. The risk of harm to the baby is likely to be low if a woman has drunk only small amounts of alcohol before she knew she was pregnant or during pregnancy. 

Examples of unit amounts are:

• one pint of regular beer, lager or cider = 2 units.
• one pint of ‘premium’ or ‘strong’ beer, lager of cider = 3 units.
• one 25ml measure of spirits = 1 unit 
• one large250ml glass of wine (12% abv) = 3 units 
• one 330ml alcopop (5% abv) = 1.5 units 

For more unit information and examples, head to the NHS Livewell pages. 

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