Don’t get me wrong, we should never appear to be flippant about the consumption of alcohol (or perhaps I should say over-consumption), but it is becoming increasingly difficult  to comprehend exactly how we should calculate a “moderate” amount. We are constantly told “consume in moderation”, but the truth is that the so called ‘experts’ appear to disagree on exactly how we should interpret this phrase.

Yet another study (oh dear!), this time by a team of researchers at Oxford University, says that we should drink no more than half a unit of alcohol per day. This would equate to three small glasses of wine per week, and if we assume that a small glass is 125ml, then this would be exactly half a bottle of wine per week (375ml).

The confusion is caused as this new advice appears to contradict the guideline given by the UK Government itself. Officially the government says that men can safely drink 3-4 units of alcohol per day (approx 250ml), and women 2-3 units (approx 175ml) – these figures are calculated using our own albariño of 12% alcohol by volume, as an example. Certainly we need some sort of sensible, realistic guideline, but the question then becomes, who is actually giving us the correct information?

This new research then goes on to claim that up to 4,500 lives a year could be saved in the UK alone. Please forgive me for being a little cynical here, but isn’t that rather like saying that researchers tell us that if we don’t drive our cars, then several thousand lives a year could also be saved? This has to be a case of using our own common sense, doesn’t it?

Don’t get me wrong, we should never appear to be flippant about the consumption of alcohol (or perhaps I should say over-consumption), but it is becoming increasingly difficult  to comprehend exactly how we should calculate a “moderate” amount. We are constantly told “consume in moderation”, but the truth is that the so called ‘experts’ appear to disagree on exactly how we should interpret this phrase.

Yet another study (oh dear!), this time by a team of researchers at Oxford University, says that we should drink no more than half a unit of alcohol per day. This would equate to three small glasses of wine per week, and if we assume that a small glass is 125ml, then this would be exactly half a bottle of wine per week (375ml).

The confusion is caused as this new advice appears to contradict the guideline given by the UK Government itself. Officially the government says that men can safely drink 3-4 units of alcohol per day (approx 250ml), and women 2-3 units (approx 175ml) – these figures are calculated using our own albariño of 12% alcohol by volume, as an example. Certainly we need some sort of sensible, realistic guideline, but the question then becomes, who is actually giving us the correct information?

This new research then goes on to claim that up to 4,500 lives a year could be saved in the UK alone. Please forgive me for being a little cynical here, but isn’t that rather like saying that researchers tell us that if we don’t drive our cars, then several thousand lives a year could also be saved? This has to be a case of using our own common sense, doesn’t it?