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units of alcohol

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  • 03-11-2004 2:48am
    #1
    thetourist
    Registered Users Posts: 469 ✭✭


    can someone set me straght on units of alcohol - i need to know for medicine i am taking - i always thought a pint was 2 and a glass of wine was 2 - then i asked a doctor - he said a pint was one and a glass of wine was one - then i saw on the back of a bottle of wine that 125ml ( which is like the smallest glass of wine you ever saw ) is 1.6 units and that 1 unit is only 100ml - then i went on to an english medical site which said a 125ml glass of wine was one unit and a pint was 2 ( like i thought at first )- so i have a lot of conflicting stuff here

    now before someone points it out i know that different strengths of wine give different units - however there is a very large discrepency here - especially with the pint - a site saying it is 2 and my gp telling me it's one - whats the story - shouldnt a doctor know ?? and if so then is there a differnt points system here than in britian ??

    :rolleyes:


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    #2
    Tiriel
    Registered Users Posts: 6,182 ✭✭✭Tiriel


    not sure of the answer to ur question, but was thinking of something over the weekend.. u know how men/women have different metabolism rates etc. not to mention that it varies between all individuals.. well wouldn't it be handy if you could test yourself to see how much you can consume while remaining under the limit to drive?

    I know.. better not drink at all.. but I mean if you have a glass of wine with your dinner.. and need to go into town or a video a couple of hours later.. depending on different metabolisms you technically could be over the limit..


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    #3
    dublin_apache
    Closed Accounts Posts: 328 ✭✭dublin_apache


    I would reckon that it has more to do with your body weight, height and blood level !

    Have a look at this pdf I found on the vhi.ie site ....


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    #4
    ApeXaviour
    Registered Users Posts: 5,523 ✭✭✭ApeXaviour


    No no and no..

    A unit of alcohol is defined as 10mls or 8g of alcohol. Thus it is easy to work out how many units of alcohol are in a drink merely by reading the percentage, and multiplying it by how many litres there are.
    Take a can of bud: 500ml, 4.3% vol = 2.15 units
    A bottle of wine: 750ml, 13% vol = 9.75 units
    If there are four glasses of wine in a bottle then:
    A glass of wine: 187mls, 13% vol = 2.44 units.

    Since alcoholic beverages can vary a lot in strength, eg certain wine-like drinks are 3% while others are 15%. I seriously advise you to look on the label and do a bit of mental arithmitic..

    Some figures
    Most lagers/stouts in pubs are 4.3%, 568mls in a pint.
    Ciders tend to be about 6%


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    #5
    thetourist
    Registered Users Posts: 469 ✭✭thetourist


    that sounds like it's making sense to me now ApeXaviour - however are you sure that this system is universal all over the world - or at least that it's the irish system - because my gp assured me that a pint was 1 unit - which is obviously crap ??

    ps thanks for the clarification


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    #6
    Blisterman
    Registered Users Posts: 7,450 ✭✭✭Blisterman


    I never knew a glass of wine had more alcohol than a pint of beer.


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    #7
    thetourist
    Registered Users Posts: 469 ✭✭thetourist


    Blisterman wrote:
    I never knew a glass of wine had more alcohol than a pint of beer.


    well i suppose that has a bit to do with how big the glasses are - 1/4 bottle is a big glass methinks ;)


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    #8
    ApeXaviour
    Registered Users Posts: 5,523 ✭✭✭ApeXaviour


    bobmurphy wrote:
    that sounds like it's making sense to me now ApeXaviour - however are you sure that this system is universal all over the world - or at least that it's the irish system - because my gp assured me that a pint was 1 unit - which is obviously crap ??

    ps thanks for the clarification

    No prob :)
    Urm afaik, describing things by "unit alcohol" is almost purely a UK phenomenon.. And we Irish have adopted it to some extent.
    ie it's not used much else in the world if at all.. It's pretty useless IMO as there are so many other factors that come into consideration.

    Yeah, doc's aren't usually wrong but it doesn't make them infallible.. If you want to corroborate what I said, next time you see a smirnoff ice or bacardi breezer lying around have a look on the back. It should say how many "units of alcohol" it contains. Then work it out with %vol and how many mls it is and they should be the same..


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    #9
    Coconut
    Closed Accounts Posts: 57 ✭✭Coconut


    Good work ApeXaviour. That is the most accurate way to calculate it.

    However, from a public health point of view, ie what your GP should know and be saying!, and for ease of communicating the message to the general public, it is slightly different.

    The term a 'standard drink' is now used, which contains roughly 10g alcohol:
    1/2 pint beer
    1 single (pub) measure spirits
    1 small glass wine

    (In reality, the content is more likely to be:
    1 pint cider = 23g alcohol
    1 pint lager = 20g
    1/4 bottle wine = 18g
    1 alcopop = 12g
    1 pub measure spirits = 11g)

    Its also worth mentioning the weekly drinking limits are
    up to 14 standard drinks for women
    up to 21 standard drinks for men
    (These figures usually surprise people too, when they divide it by 2 to convert them to pints!)

    Hope that helps!
    (ps figures are from most recent Health Promotion Unit info.)


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