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We know that drinking too much alcohol can cause problems, but how much is too much?
The following guidelines are based on the National Health and Medical Research Centre Council's guidelines, which provide average acceptable levels of drinking over time and levels for occasional ‘heavy' drinking days.
For healthy men and women, drinking no more than twop standard drinks on any day reduces the lifetime risk of harm from alcohol related disease or injury.
Drinking no more than four standard drinks on a single occasion reduces the risk of alcohol related injury arising from that occasion.
These guidelines assume that the person drinking alcohol:
- is not on medication
- is not pregnant
- will not be driving
- will not be operating machinery.
The above drinking levels may also be too high for men who weigh less than 60 kilograms and for women who weigh less than 50 kilograms.
A lower amount of alcohol is recommended for women because alcohol tends to have a greater affect on women for the following reasons:
- Women tend to have a smaller physical build than men, so alcohol is distributed (throughout the body's water) over a smaller volume. Women also tend to have more body fat than men, and alcohol is not taken up by body fat.
- On average, women have smaller livers than men, and the ability to break down alcohol is limited by the size of the liver.
- The level of hormones in a woman's body can possibly increase the effects of alcohol.
- If a woman is taking the contraceptive pill, her body's ability to break down alcohol may be reduced.
For children and young people under 18 years of age, not drinking alcohol is the safest option. Children under 15 years of age are at the greatest risk of harm from drinking and for this age group, not drinking alcohol is especially important. For young people aged 15-17 years, the safest option is to delay the initiation of drinking for as long as possible.
For information on the responsibilites and laws with regards to holding a liquor licence in Victoria, go to the Consumer Affairs Victoria website.
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