
Binge Drinking - Busting the myth
The term 'binge drinking' is generally used to refer to single-occasion drinking i.e. when you drink heavily over a short period of time.
To reduce your risk of short and long term harm from alcohol, the National Health and Medical Research Council Australian Alcohol Guidelines recommend low-risk drinking levels to minimise health and safety risks:
The recommended guidelines for low-risk drinking are:
Men  |
Women  |
- Maximum of 4 standard drinks per day on average.
- 1 or 2 alcohol-free days a week.
For a single drinking occasion:
- No more than 6 standard drinks on any one day, and no more than 3 days a week.
- No more than 2 standard drinks in the first hour, and 1 per hour afterwards.
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- Maximum of 2 standard drinks per day on average.
- 1 or 2 alcohol-free days a week.
For a single drinking occasion:
- No more than 4 standard drinks on any one day, and no more than 3 days a week.
- No more than 1 standard drink per hour.
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Note: These guidelines apply to persons above about 60kg for men and 50kg for women. Persons of smaller than average body size should drink within lower levels.
Busting the myth facts
- Alcohol is the second largest cause of drug-related deaths and hospitalisations. Tobacco is the largest.
- Harmful alcohol consumption contributes to more than 3,000 Australian deaths every year.
- Steer clear of alcohol if you're pregnant. There is no known safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
- Alcohol affects your brain, impairing your movement, coordination, judgement and speech, from your very first drink.
- The effects of alcohol differ from person to person.
- Girls are more likely to have a higher blood alcohol concentration than a guy, even when they've had the same amount to drink.
- Alcohol causes around one-third of all road deaths.
- Your liver can only get rid of about one standard drink per hour. Nothing can speed this up - not even black coffee, cold showers, exercise or vomiting.
- You can still be over the legal limit for driving the next morning.
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