Health experts are now on a debate on the better way to set the standards in safe drinking.  Is it better to set a daily limit or a weekly one?

The old guidelines were based on sound research, which stated a weekly limit of 21 units per week for men, and 14 units per week for women, says Liver specialist, Dr. Nick Sheron (Alcohol Health Alliance UK).  He also emphasized the need for alcohol-free days.

Experts have advised the UK Government to change the guidelines for safe drinking: currently 2-3 units per day for women, and 3-4 units per day for men.

“In a bid to curb binge drinking and emphasize the harms of saving up a week’s limit to blow in one or two sessions at the weekend,” the recommendation was changed from a weekly to a daily limit.

Dr. Sheron explained, the original limits were based on strong evidence that the benefits of alcohol would be outweighed by the dangers. He believes there was no good reason for the change from a weekly to a daily limit saying, “[The guidelines] were turned into daily limits by a community of civil servants and the reasoning behind it is shrouded in mystery and is not largely supported by experts.”

Dr Rachel Seabrook (Institute of Alcohol Studies) said, “We are quite concerned about the use of ‘daily’ in the message. It implies that you can drink on every day. There should be an explicit warning against this.”

Other experts are concerned that the message of having at least a couple of alcohol-free days per week has been lost.

The problem here is the possible misinterpretation of guidelines.  So, to make things clear, why not just give further explanation such as this:

* It is safe to occasionally drink more than 2-3 units (women), or 3-4 units (men) in a day: so long as you remain under your weekly limit.
* You should not drink every day of the week. Have at least a couple of alcohol-free days.
* If you have a heavy drinking session, don’t drink for 48 hours afterwards.

Now, we have captured what all of them (experts) are saying.  No debate, no worries.  It’s that simple.