How Much Alcohol Is Too Much?

A glass of red wine a day may be good for health. But three or more glasses could have the opposite effect. Drink too much and your ability to think lucidly may be compromised. Drink too often and it may start to damage your liver. If you’re not good in knowing your limits, here are some tips to get your alcohol drinking under control and protect your liver from damage.

A glass of wine or a pint of beer can easily become two. But not if you have the discipline to stay within the recommended limit of alcohol intake a day. Health experts suggest just one standard drink a day for women, and two standard drinks a day for men. Here’s an idea of how many standard drinks your favourite tipple is equivalent to:

Sip your drink, savour it. Taste the flavours, and feel the sensations that the alcohol creates within you. Great brewers put plenty of time and effort into perfecting their alcoholic beverages. The least you could do is appreciate their craft, enjoy a glass and make it last.

When it comes to liver damage, there are various stages of severity. Fatty liver is the earliest stage of alcohol-related liver disease, caused by an accumulation of fat deposits in liver cells. Even though the symptoms may not be visible in occasional tipplers, chronic drinkers run a high risk of suffering from fatty liver.

On the other end of the spectrum is liver cirrhosis, a condition caused by severe scarring of the liver. The symptoms include vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, jaundice, and in worst cases, liver failure. If you experience any of the symptoms, see a doctor who can conduct a test on your liver.