Are we drinking too much?

Our #hellofitty editor Emma, talks about how easy it is to ‘drink too much’ and how this may be causing adverse health affects.

Two weeks ago I awoke at 5am with heart palpitations after a heavy night drinking with friends. Although I managed to get back to sleep without panicking, they didn’t go away until 5pm that day.

When this happened I put it down to the red bull I’d had with vodka, but when it happened again that week after another night of drinking, I became a little concerned.

It made me think about how much I actually drink. Not how much I tell my doctor (come on, we all lie!) or my mother, but how much, unit for unit, I get through in a week. My conclusion is: too much.

I am 100% sure I’m not alone.

This problem is embedded in UK culture. Every time I see friends, go on dates, socialize with work, and go to parties, I consume alcohol. Furthermore, if you’re not drinking, you’re called up for it: something must be ‘wrong’ with you.

The problem is, if you’re a social person like I am, who is out most nights a week, the drinking adds up. Although we may feel very far from becoming alcoholics who need a drink to get up in the morning, we must not forget the damaging affects drinking can have on our health and well-being.

When drunk in excess it can ruin your complexion, make you feel lethargic and low, make you lose control of your emotions and body, give you the world’s worst hangovers, and affect your performance at work. If that’s not bad enough, in the worst cases it can destroy your liver and weaken your heart.

Abstinence is not the answer.  I’m giving up alcohol for a little while, but don’t see it as a feasible long term plan. It can be boring and difficult to maintain: who doesn’t love a good glass of wine?! But we do need to remind ourselves to take a step back once in a while, make sure we’re ‘drinking responsibly’, and take a few nights a week off the alcohol completely.

Are you drinking too much?

Women’s allowance is : 2-3 units a day = one pint of beer or a medium glass of wine.

Check your drinking, and other drinking facts here.

Join me and our health and wellbeing writer Kate in Sober for October, and raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support.