Government Announce New Guidelines on Alcohol Consumption

Government announce new guidelines on alcohol consumption

For the first time in 21 years, the Government has done a full review of the guidelines for alcohol consumption. The guidelines recommend that men and women who drink regularly should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol (the equivalent of a bottle and a half of wine) a week. This has come about after experts highlighted the increasing amount of health issues alcohol can cause.

Dr Niamh Fitzgerald from the University of Stirling had this to say on the lesser reported risks of alcohol consumption:

“Most people are aware of the links between smoking and cancer, but far fewer are aware of evidence linking alcohol consumption with an increased risk of future health problems, in particular cancers of the mouth, intestines and breast cancer in women.”

Before the new guidelines the recommended intake for women was to drink no more than 2-3 units of alcohol per day and men 3-4 units, indicating women had the potential to drink 21 units per week and men 28 units per week. The new guidelines have been given as weekly amounts of intake as opposed to daily to discourage people from drinking every day.

In reaction to the new guidelines put in place Professor Matt Field (lecturer in addiction from Liverpool University), has stated

“One of the most important changes with the recommendations is that there is no ‘safe’ level of alcohol consumption. Any amount of drinking is associated with increased risk of a number of diseases”

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