Huron County, ON ― About 42 per cent of adults in Huron County drink alcohol in a way that puts their health at risk. Drinking too much, too often can lead to many unwanted consequences. Even low levels of alcohol can have a significant impact on our health.
To help people better understand the connection between alcohol and health, the Huron County Health Unit is spreading an important message – Rethink Your Drinking. This campaign and new website (www.rethinkyourdrinking.ca) offers information and tips on how to use alcohol in ways to minimize its impact on your health and injury risk.
Knowing how much alcohol you are actually drinking is key to reducing your risk. “It’s easy to know how much you’re drinking if you have the typical 341mL bottle of 5% beer. In that case, one bottle of beer is one standard drink. All you have to do is count your empties.” says Laura Edgar, Public Health Promoter, “It’s harder to keep track with larger cans and bottles, when there’s a higher percentage of alcohol by volume or when pouring a glass of wine.”
The size of a standard drink depends on the alcohol percentage. One standard drink of 5% beer is 341 ml (12 ounces), whereas a standard drink of 12% wine is 142ml (5 ounces). One standard drink of hard liquor with 40% alcohol is 43ml (1.5 ounces).
“Once you have an idea of how many standard drinks you typically have, you can compare your drinking with Canada’s Low-risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines to see if you should consider cutting back” says Edgar. The Low-risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines are designed to help Canadians aged 25-65 years make informed choices about their alcohol consumption, and to help create a culture of moderation.
Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines recommend:
- Women: no more than 2 drinks, up to 5 days a week;
- Men: no more than 3 drinks, up to 5 days a week;
“Of course, less is best for promoting your health and reducing your risk of injury” reminds Edgar.
Alcohol consumption has been found to cause more than 200 different diseases and injuries. These include well-known outcomes such as liver cirrhosis or traffic crashes, along with several types of cancer including breast cancer.
Rethink Your Drinking is a campaign to help change the way we think about and use alcohol, while addressing the things that matter:
- size of the drink
- time between drinks
- alcohol’s link to chronic disease
- how alcohol affects men and women differently
- choices made when drinking.
To learn more about safer alcohol use, visit www.rethinkyourdrinking.ca
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