Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Most swimmers I know like to drink - How much is the safe allowable amount?

I include the numbers just for men to save space. I decided to do a post on this after looking at what a terrible carcinogen alcohol is, even more so than smoking when you take into account all your organs. I also want to include that those who do not drink; (like myself), are ironically at risk for general organ cancers as well but in my opinion that study needs more supporting evidence.

Note, the numbers listed below are in grams. 30-grams (30g) equals one fluid ounce, 237-grams equals a cup.

From Wikipedia, the numbers in blue are links to valid references:

Daily maximum drinks (no weekly limits recommended)

  • Australia: 2/day; 14/week (@10g = 20g/day, 140g/week)[14][15] (New guidelines were adopted on 6 March 2009.[16])
  • Austria: 24g
  • Czech Republic: 24g
  • Italy: 40g (30g for the elderly)[9]
  • Japan: 1–2 (@19.75g = 19.75–39.5g)
  • Netherlands: 3 (@9.9g = 29.7g)
  • Portugal: 37g[13]
  • Spain: 3 (@10g = 30g) Also suggests a maximum of no more than twice this on any one occasion.[13]
  • Sweden: 20g
  • Switzerland:2 (@10–12g = 20–24g)[17]

Therefore, these countries recommend limits for men in the range 20–40g per day.

Daily/weekly maximum drinks

These countries recommend a weekly limit, but intake on a particular day may be higher than one-seventh of the weekly amount.

  • Canada: 2/day; 14/week (@13.6g = 27.2g/day, 190g/week)[2][18]
  • Hong Kong: 3–4/day; 21/week (glass of wine or a pint of beer)
  • New Zealand: 3/day; 21/week (@10g = 30g/day, 210g/week)[11]
  • UK: 3–4/day; 21/week (@8g = 24–32g day, 168g/week)
  • USA: 1-2 units/day (14–28g/day), not to exceed 14 units/week (196g/week)[17]

Therefore, these countries recommend limits for men in the range 27.2–32g per day and 168–210g per week.

[Link]

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Think nobody really knows for sure..

All things in moderation, I'd say. If alcohol were invented today, it would be banned along with heroin and cocaine - it's that kind of drug. I find the situation in my country (the UK) worrying because alcohol consumption per capita has steadily risen year on year for the last few decades and people don't seem to take it seriously. Lots of whining about 'nanny state' and 'they just want to tax us'. (In comparison, the numbers of smokers has been going down.)

Anyway, I find the guidelines helpful for me to watch my drinking. It's known that binge drinking is more harmful than spreading it out, so a daily recommendation is better than a weekly recommendation.

Also, apart from the other issues linked to alcohol, alcoholism can creep up on you, so it's helpful to keep to guidelines, especially if you have a day off here and there.

Tony Austin said...

The most insidious thing about alcohol is that it always make you think, "everything is ok."

Trent Richardson said...

Don't forget about the calories. Alcohol is converted into acetate and your body will burn all of this rather than burning your fat calories that you would probably rather be getting rid of.

Tony Austin said...

...And it decimates testosterone too.

Anonymous said...

If by whiskey...

Endless Pools Swimming Machines said...

Interesting how the recommendations differ by culture/location. The notoriously heavy drinking UK is saying 3-4 drinks a day vs 1-2 for the US.