Drinkers told: cut all alcohol for 2 days per week

DRINKERS should abstain from consuming alcohol for two days every week to protect their health, MPs claim today.

The Commons science and technology committee is demanding a review of drinking guidelines amid fears that they are unclear. It calls on ministers to “exercise proper scrutiny and oversight” over how health messages compete with the industry’s “business objectives”.

The new advice modifies the existing recommendations first defined 25 years ago, which outlined “sensible” drinking limits as being 21 units of alcohol a week for men and 14 for women.

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New evidence in the 1990s, claiming drinking could help prevent heart disease, prompted ministers to advise daily limits of up to four units a day for men and three for women. Now the latest advice will update guidelines to recommend that drinkers should have two alcohol-free days every week.

Research has shown that middle-class Britons regularly drink too much. A recent report by 2020 Health, a centre-right think-tank, estimated that eight million professionals were drinking too much alcohol routinely and endangering their health, even though they were not binge drinking or getting drunk.

The research also said that many middle-class drinkers were un-aware of the risks, with couples who shared a bottle of wine over dinner most evenings unwittingly increasing their chances of cancer and strokes.

Committee chairman and Labour MP Andrew Miller said: “While we urge the UK health departments to re-evaluate the guidelines more thoroughly, the evidence we received suggests the guidelines should not be increased and that people should be advised to take at least two drink-free days a week.”

The Royal College of Physicians’ special adviser on alcohol, Sir Ian Gilmore, echoed calls for a review of guidelines and demanded a minimum price for alcohol.

He said: “There is an increased risk of liver disease for those who drink daily or near-daily compared with those who drink periodically or intermittently.”

Mr Miller said: “Alcohol guidelines are a crucial tool for government in its effort to combat excessive and problematic drinking. It is vital that they are up to date and that people know how to use them.

“Unfortunately, public understanding of how to use the guidelines and what an alcohol unit looks like is poor, although improving.”

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The cross-party committee found experts disagreed over potential benefits from drinking and the MPs were “sceptical” about using them.

Dr Evelyn Gillan, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said the new advice was in line with current thinking. However, she warned against people becoming complacent.

“It is good advice to have two alcohol-free days every week. That is where current thinking is at the moment – giving your body a rest from alcohol.

“However, there is a danger that people will think that it is OK to drink what they want for the other five days, but they should still keep within the limits – two to three units a day for women and three to four for men. Our message is that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.”

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “We recommend that everyone aim to have at least two alcohol free days per week.”

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