2 Large glasses of wine is binge drinking.

[pattricia]

Its just said on the news that more & more English people are binge drinking in their own homes. Because of the price of wine coming down, most people have a glass or two with their meal in the evening,(I know I do). It also said that two large glasses of wine with your tea every night,is classed as binge drinking. I often do this(and my wine glasses are large) but not every night.I know women are supposed to have so many units a week, but are going well past that. We always picture binge drinkers as young men & women out clubbing at the week-end, but it seems it US as well.

[JoeP]

There are way too many researchers and journalists with much too little to do.

 

 

2 large glasses....that's maybe half a bottle max.? Done every night that's - 3 bottles of wine a week?

 

I don't feel that's binge drinking...more appreciation of the grape.

 

Provided it's a GOOD wine, that is...

[pattricia]

The trouble though is if you do have cirrosis of the liver, you dont know about it until its too late.There are no signs or symptoms until its too late. I can remember nursing two brothers who were both miners ,had this condition.They were big beer drinkers(as all miners were, as they were so thirsty after coming up from the pit). Both were very ill. One died, and one lived. I will try & cut down, but I do like my wine.

[JoeP]

I'm the first male from my family who doesn't go to the pub every night. I assume that there was liver disease in my family but I think that people died with it, rather than of it. It was a mining family so a lot of the older generation went with lung diseases.

 

What would be interesting is how we compare with countries with a true wine culture.

[pattricia]

I'm the first male from my family who doesn't go to the pub every night. I assume that there was liver disease in my family but I think that people died with it, rather than of it. It was a mining family so a lot of the older generation went with lung diseases.

 

What would be interesting is how we compare with countries with a true wine culture.

 

Yes, thats interesting Joep. I wonder how much liver disease there is in France & Italy ? Also it was nothing for steelworkers to drink from 8-10 pints a night.

[Guest]

'Binge drinking' is the journlists' new buzz phrase, and being journalists and thus not overly bothered about strict accuracy of definitions, they tend to throw the phrase about with abandon.

 

A large glass of wine is probably about two units, so two glasses a night is roughly four units; if some do that every night, it's 28 units per week. For a man, that's well over the recommended limit of 21, and twice the recommended limit of 14 for women.

 

I wouldn't class it as binge drinking (a 'binge' implies a large excess in a short period of time), but it's probably not going to do the liver much good in the long term if it's a regular habit.

[JoeP]

I suppose that the strength of the beer would have been the issue.

 

I also wonder whether the diet and lifestyle in the 'winey' countries is different enough to here to have a positive effect on the liver - sort of sounteracting the falling over water?

[JoeP]

'Binge drinking' is the journlists' new buzz phrase, and being journalists and thus not overly bothered about strict accuracy or accurate definitions, they tend to throw the phrase about with abandon.

 

A large glass of wine is probably about two units, so two glasses a night is roughly four units; if some do that every night, it's 28 units per week. For a man, that's well over the recommended limit of 21, and twice the recommended limit of 14 for women.

 

I wouldn't class it as binge drinking (a 'binge' implies a large excess in a short period of time), but it's probably not going to do the liver much good in the long term if it's a regular habit.

 

That makes good sense.

 

I used to have periods every few months when I'd have wine with my food for a few days, then I'd go dry again. I guess the problem with labelling things as binge in this way is that it makes us question what true binge drinking is....

[Guest]

...it makes us question what true binge drinking is....

I'd say that there's a distinction between 'binge drinking' and 'excessive drinking', with the former being a sub-category of the latter. 'Binge drinking' suggests going out and getting really drunk, perhaps once or twice a week. 'Excessive drinking' refers to persistently exceeding the recommended alcohol limits in the manner described in my post above.

 

Excessive drinking can be insidious; two large glasses of wine a night doesn't sound that much, but it's certainly particularly excessive for women if it's a long-term habit.

[Zamo]

I'd say that there's a distinction between 'binge drinking' and 'excessive drinking', with the former being a sub-category of the latter. 'Binge drinking' suggests going out and getting really drunk, perhaps once or twice a week. 'Excessive drinking' refers to persistently exceeding the recommended alcohol limits in the manner described in my post above.

 

Excessive drinking can be insidious; two large glasses of wine a night doesn't sound that much, but it's certainly particularly excessive for women if it's a long-term habit.

 

Exactly. "Binge" sounds more dramatic but it is a mis-use of the word.

 

Doctors also always err on the sie of caution, which means the recommended daily allowances will be based on safe levels for someone with a low tollerence to alcohol. I believe the vast majority of people can consume more without it damaging their health... providing they burn off the extra calories to avoid getting too porky!