New Alcohol Limits !

Here we are on the cusp of the festive season and the National Health and Medical Research  Council (NHMRC) has released its latest edict lowering the safe limit for the consumption of alcohol.  To stay within their guidelines  it is now necessary to limit the drinks that contain alcohol to just ten drinks per week.  That is a retreat from the previous fourteen drinks a week limit.

This warning arises from the analysis of statistics.   Every year more than four thousand Australians die due to alcohol related conditions or injuries.  Alcohol causes about seventy thousand admissions to hospital annually and accounts for between ten and fifteen percent of emergency room presentations.  Alcohol is linked to more than sixty medical conditions, including several cancers.

The NHMRC is quite explicit in suggesting we limit ourselves to just four such drinks in any one day to achieve that total of ten drinks in the one week, and even that limit is too much for  pregnant women.  Quite obviously the NHMRC is saying that to achieve the best health outcome we would be wise to avoid alcohol entirely.

It repeats the previous warning that alcohol should be removed entirely from consumption by children below the age of eighteen.  Some parents permit children to have a small glass containing alcohol at family meals in the interest of developing a " safe limit " outlook but the NHMRC warns that increases the risk of alcohol related conditions forming in later life.

This warning comes with a clear definition of what constitutes a " standard drink ".   That is based on a measure of 30 ml of spirits or 285 ml of full strength beer.   It is not the size of the glass it contains that counts.  It is the measure of alcohol that is contained in the glass that needs to be taken into account.

According to that formulae, a person who celebrates Christmas dinner this year with four drinks containing alcohol would need to  reduce consumption to just six more drinks for the rest of the week to stay within the limit.  As a rough measure, half as bottle of wine would be enough to reach the daily limit for each person.

Of course, health is a personal decision that each of us must make and a mixture of better diet and the great advances of medical science have extended the average lifetime to the extent that many people now achieve their hundredth birthday.   Good luck plays an important part in achieving such longevity but it is the quality of life achieved that is the measure of success.

Some would considcer a life that is not joyful as a wasted life  !