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Do you know how much you drink?
Three people have asked me how many units of wine I drink a week in the last four days: the osteopath, the dentist and my friend who popped round for supper. I suspect my average consumption is something like a bottle and a half to two bottles a week. I was brought up thinking that there were six glasses in a bottle and that one glass roughly equalled one unit. So, there I was thinking I was somewhere between a nine to 12-unit a week girl.
The truth is I have always known that it wasn't as simple as this. Such a breakdown doesn't take into account the amount of wine in your glass or the alcohol level of the wine being drunk.
It is this fact that the Government has been working vociferously to bring to our attention in recent months and despite my personal dislike of what I consider an increasing tendency to treat us all like children, I agree that there's an important message here.
So, I registered at www.drinkaware.co.uk - the website of the Drink Aware Trust: an independent UK-wide, public-facing body with the objective of changing public behaviour and the national drinking culture to help reduce alcohol misuse. Drink Aware have recently teamed up with the Department of Health to launch the Know Your Limits' campaign which is all about teaching us about the number of units in what we're drinking.
Having signed up, I decided to make use of the handy on-line drinks diary. You simply input what you've been drinking - be it beer, spirits, wines or cider - and then click on the abv and the computer does the rest. It tells you both the number of units consumed and the number of calories.
I have got to tell you, it made for some pretty eye-opening reading. On Monday I went to London for a girl's day out; a bit of lunch and some afternoon shopping. One glass of champagne and a 175ml glass of white (13 per cent abv) with lunch and I had already exceeded the government's recommended daily allowance, as I was at 3.78 units and 225 calories.
By the time I'd added in the two small glasses of pre-concert rosé (12.5 per cent) I had in the evening I was at almost seven units. As a woman I should be drinking no more than three units a day.
On Tuesday I fared considerably better. I had no more than a small glass of white wine that I was reviewing for a client. Still, I couldn't help but be surprised to see that a 125ml glass of 12 per cent abv white wine still takes you to 1.5 units. That's half the recommended daily allowance and one sixth of a bottle of wine.
Come Wednesday I was sharing pizza and a drink or two with friends. I was determined to stick to my allowance and so had just two small glasses of red. By the time everyone had left and I'd logged on to fill out my day's drinking I was feeling pretty confident. It was bad news. My red wine was a hefty 14.5 per cent abv and despite having restrained myself to two small glasses I was generously on my way to four units.
On Thursday I was teetotal and on Friday I had but one glass of white. With Saturday ahead and a departure to Spain for a week of wine tasting, I was very aware that I had already reached 14 units. I tried a new approach. I opted for a small glass (125ml) of white on the porch before dinner and then a larger (175ml) glass of red with my dinner. Both wines were around the 13 per cent abv mark and yet despite this I still tallied up just less than four units.
My Drink Aware Drinks Diary certainly made for sobering reading. The point is though, has it changed my drinking habits and what, if anything, will I be doing differently?
Well, yes, a week of judicious diary keeping has made me more aware. Recent habits have taught us all, I think, to accept 175ml servings as a standard' glass of wine, when it's actually a pretty generous helping. I am going to try and keep my pourings to a more modest 125ml.
I'm also going to be keeping a much beadier eye on the alcohol levels in the wines I'm drinking. Like it or not, the big 14% plus wines do need to be consumed with more restraint.
The message is important and I'm glad I'm more aware but I still absolutely love my wine and while it's smart to take care, let's not stop having fun.
Click here for The Oxford Times Wine Club offers.
2:06pm Thursday 3rd July 2008
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