Drink Responsibly
As you would expect from a bunch of wine lovers, we take our drinking seriously – in all senses. Yes we like to indulge ourselves, but we also like to think we’re aware of the dangers that alcohol, or rather too much of it, can present.
Because of this, we at Gardabani Wines think it’s only right to promote responsible drinking and follow the guidelines set out at the charity DrinkAware: drinkaware.co.uk.
Do you know exactly what a unit of alcohol is? When we did a straw poll of the office, we found we all had different ideas. So we asked DrinkAware and got the real facts:
1 unit = 10 ml pure alcohol
Alcoholic drinks are measured as ABV (alcoholic strength by volume) or a percentage (you’ll usually find this on the bottom left or right hand corner of a wine label). The number of units can vary significantly depending on the level of the ABV in an alcoholic drink. A typical bottle of wine will be 12%. The easiest calculation we’ve found to work is:
Volume (ml) ÷ 10 (ml pure alcohol) x ABV = number of units
750 ÷ 10 x 0.12 = 9
Therefore:
- A small glass (125 ml) = 1.5 units
- A medium glass (175 ml) = 2 units
- A large glass (250 ml) = 3 units
- A bottle (750ml) = 9 units
The Government’s lower risk guidelines for alcohol consumption is 14 units per week for both men and women – so it doesn’t take much to cross over to the dark side!
Also, please remember that your body gets rid of alcohol at the rate of only one unit per hour on average. However, this varies from person to person and depends on height, weight, your gender, your metabolism, whether you’ve eaten or not, and how quickly you’re drinking.
If we’re driving, we’re not drinking. It’s just not worth it. Furthermore, the number of people being arrested for drink driving the following morning is increasing. If you’re driving the next day, take it easy the night before:
- Drink smaller glasses
- Alternate with water or a soft drink
- Stop drinking well before you go to bed.
