Do you feel like you need support to cut back on the amount of alcohol you are drinking?
It can be easier than you think. Call our health advisors on
Public Health England recommends that both men and women do not drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week regularly. However, many people are not aware of how many units are in their favourite alcoholic drinks.
Other drinks
Alcohol also contains a lot of calories as well so if you drink and are looking to lose weight you need to be aware of exactly how much alcohol you are consuming.
Get medical advice before you stop drinking if you have physical withdrawal symptoms (like shaking, sweating or feeling anxious until you have your first drink of the day). It can be dangerous to stop drinking too quickly without proper support.
If you need support in cutting back on the booze, then download the Drink Free Days app, which will help you monitor how much you are drinking from week to week.
Cutting down your alcohol consumption can have many benefits including:
Drinking can affect anxiety and stress levels and this in turn can have a direct impact on your mental health. Cutting down on alcohol means that you should notice an improvement in your overall mood.
When you drink alcohol, this affects your sleep because it prevents you from having a deeper, more restorative sleep. Therefore, by cutting back on alcohol you should notice that you sleep more deeply and feel more refreshed upon waking in the morning.
As mentioned in the points above, as alcohol affects your mood and sleep it stands to reason that your energy levels are also going to be affected as well. Simply by being able to have a deeper, more restful sleep and also by feeling better in ourselves day to day we should also notice that our energy levels increase as we cut back on alcohol consumption.
By going out to drink less and buying less alcohol to drink at home you can end up saving a significant amount of money depending on how much alcohol you normally consume. You could put the money you would normally use on alcohol into a jar and then treat yourself at the end of the month or put the money towards something you may be saving up for.
Alcohol is highly calorific and so by cutting down how much you drink on a regular basis you should also notice that you lose weight also as long as you are following a healthy balanced diet (visit our Eat Better page for info on a healthy diet). Find out about calories in alcohol.
If you or someone you know is drinking too much and you would like to get some support, then help is available.
As mentioned above men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis.
Those that do drink more than 14 units of alcohol on a regular basis over a prolonged period of time are at an increased risk of a serious health event such as stroke, heart disease, liver disease and also some forms of cancer. In addition to this, drinking at high risk levels can affect your mental health and can also possibly lead to brain damage and damage to the nervous system.
If you are not sure how many units you are consuming each week you can use the Alcohol Change unit calculator – click on he heading above to be taken to the website.
If you feel that you are drinking too much alcohol or you are concerned about someone else who you feel is drinking too much and you need extra support with your drinking you can contact your GP or get local support from ARC Hounslow. Click on ‘Further support’ above to be taken to the ARC Hounslow website.