It would be fair to assume that most people of heard of ‘alcohol units’ but not everybody fully understands what they mean or exactly how many units they are consuming every time they have a drink.
So what is a unit of alcohol anyway?
In the United Kingdom, ‘units of alcohol’ are used as a guideline for the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
A unit of alcohol is defined as 10 millilitres of
pure alcohol (ethanol) — it is not the
same thing as a standard drink.
Some people may believe that a unit is equal to a pint of beer or lager, or a glass of wine is the same as a pint of beer and therefore ‘one unit’. This is not the case and can lead to some people unwittingly drinking above the recommended sensible limits without realising it.
Can I find out how many units are in my drink?
Many pre-packaged drinks will show unit information, and some show units per serve size.
It’s important to know how many units you are drinking. By looking out for information on units, learning what a unit is, learning how to work out units and keeping a drinking diary, you’ll be able to make sure you’re drinking responsibly and keeping yourself healthy.
A unit of alcohol is, more or less, the amount of alcohol that an average healthy adult can metabolize in one hour. In the United Kingdom, the number of units contained in a typical serving of an alcoholic beverage is publicised and printed on bottles, cans, pumps etc.
It is often stated that a unit of alcohol is supplied by a small glass of wine, half a pint of beer, or a single measure of spirits. Such statements may be misleading because they do not reflect differences in strength of the various kinds of wines, beers, and spirits.
As a guide, units can be broadly categorized using the following chart:
An accurate way of calculating how many units you are drinking is to multiply the ABV (%) figure by the size of your drink. For example, a typical can of beer these days is 440ml, at 5% ABV strength.
Therefore: 440 x 5 = 2,200; divide this by 1,000 = 2.2 units. You can use this formula to work out other drinks:
