How Many Standard Drinks?

A standard drink measures the amount of alcohol, not the amount of liquid you're drinking - because it's the alcohol content that is most important to track.

One standard drink equates to 10 grams of pure alcohol. Your liver can only remove roughly one standard drink per hour.

Click here to find out what happens to alcohol in your body.
Click here to view a handy standard drinks calculator.

Alcohol By Volume

The exact amount of alcohol in each drink depends on the alcohol percentage of that particular drink. This is called the alcohol by volume, or for short, the ABV.

Similar products in containers of the same size may hold different numbers of standard drinks. For example, a bottle of wine (750ml) with an ABV of 12% contains 7 standard drinks, while a bottle of wine (750ml) with an ABV of 13.5% contains 8 standard drinks.

The Department of Health and Children

The Department of Health and Children advises that up to 14 standard drinks a week for women and up to 21 standard drinks a week for men is considered low risk. It is important that they are spread out over the week and not saved for one session or big night out.

This equates to a daily low risk limit of 2 or 3 standards drinks for women, or 3 or 4 standard drinks for men, with some alcohol free days over the course of the week.

It is advised that when you do drink that you consume plenty of water or non-alcoholic beverages between alcoholic drinks. Don't forget: when these limits are consistently exceeded, health risks start to accumulate.

The World Health Organisation

The World Health Organisation (WHO) regards drinking amounts in excess of the above weekly limits, and up to 40 standard drinks a week for men, or up to 28 standard drinks a week for women to be 'hazardous'. Drinking at these levels places you at an increased risk of problems such as raised blood pressure, stroke and liver cirrhosis.

The WHO regards as 'harmful or definitely dangerous' sustained drinking above the 'hazardous' level and is likely to cause physical, mental and social problems.