When does one drink become too many?

I wouldn’t call myself much of a drinker, I prefer to enjoy a good glass of wine rather than get trollied.

But while my amounts may be small – maybe one or two glasses of vino a few times a week-  the frequency could still be a cause for concern.

Last year, scientists found that red wine could help reduce the risks of heart diseases as it includes antioxidants such as resveratrol.

However, this was only found to be beneficial in moderation and even still the scientific community is reluctant to recommend the drinking of alcohol.

The pretence that wine is in fact good for you is one of the reasons why a growing number of middle-aged Brits are becoming more attached to alcohol.

Panorama recently showed a programme on BBC One called Britain’s Hidden Alcoholics, which I was surprised to see showed that there has been a rise in the number of middle-class, middle-aged professionals harbouring secret drink problems.

One of the reasons for this secrecy is that many of these people do not consider themselves to be alcoholics.

If I drink one glass of wine a night every evening for a week does that make me an alcoholic or should that term be reserved for binge drinkers?

The answer is not clear, however Chris Sorek, chief executive of Drinkaware, believes that many people are unknowingly drinking to excess and often do not realise how much they are knocking back.

Mr Sorek urges any regular drinkers to use the MyDrinkaware site to found out whether they are exceeding the recommended levels,

“One in four users of the online unity calculator and drink diary say it has helped them reduce their alcohol consumption and active users claim to have reduced their intake from five to 3.9 units per day,” he said.

With figures like these no harm in doing a quick check, especially as the health effects of drinking too much can become more serious as I get older.

Has anyone tracked their intake? Are you surprised by what you saw?

Posted by Margo Hunter