National Alcohol Guidelines
The UK government recommends that both men and women should not regularly drink more than 14 units per week to reduce health risks associated with drinking alcohol. If you do drink up to 14 units a week, it’s best to spread these evenly across a few days and to have at least two drink-free days a week.
When it comes to single drinking occasions you can keep the short term health risks at a low level by sticking to some simple suggestions:
- Limit the total amount of alcohol you drink on any occasion.
- Drink more slowly, drink with food and alternate alcoholic drinks with water
- For pregnant women, or women planning to get pregnant, the safest option is to avoid alcohol completely. This keeps the level of risk to the baby to a minimum.
For more information on the new alcohol guidelines please click here
Alcohol limits and driving
The legal limit for driving is 80 micrograms of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. The breath test limit is 35 micrograms in 100ml of breath
There is no fail safe guide as to how much you can drink to stay under this limit.
The amount and type of alcoholic drink, and your height, weight and metabolism will all play their part.
Advice to avoid drink driving
- Never offer a drink to a driver
- Stick to non-alcoholic and soft drinks
- Arrange for someone who is not drinking to drive
- Take a taxi
- Use public transport
- Stay overnight