15 drinks a week for men & 8 for women and your considered a heavy drinker.
So according to the CDC if you have 2 glasses of wine per day 7 days a week you are a moderate drinker, as you are consuming 14 drinks during the week. Have that one extra glass during the week and you move into the heavy drinking category. It looks like 3 bottles per week is the threshold, take Monday off then drink on average 1/2 a bottle per day. That seems about right.
What does moderate drinking mean?
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, moderate alcohol consumption is defined as having up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men. This definition is referring to the amount consumed on any single day and is not intended as an average over several days. The Dietary Guidelines also state that it is not recommended that anyone begin drinking or drink more frequently on the basis of potential health benefits because moderate alcohol intake also is associated with increased risk of breast cancer, violence, drowning, and injuries from falls and motor vehicle crashes.
What do you mean by heavy drinking?
For men, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 15 drinks or more per week. For women, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 8 drinks or more per week.
By those standards I would bet a good number of heavy drinkers populate this board. I have to wonder what the bases for those designations were. Is it based on data or just what sounded right to someone?
Bill, here is what the Aust govt says about the subject.
https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/ds10-alcohol.pdf
PS - my personal guideline is somewhere between 2-3 glasses per day or 14-21 units per week.
Cheers brodie