Spirits how many units

Our easy-to-understand guide gives you the facts and advice on alcohol units and measures. One unit is 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol. Because alcoholic drinks come in different strengths and sizes, units are a way to tell how strong your drink is. It takes an average adult around an hour to process one unit of alcohol so that there's none left in their bloodstream, although this varies from person to person.

Alcohol content is also expressed as a percentage of the whole drink. One pint of strong lager or a large glass of wine can contain more than three units of alcohol.

The alcoholic content in similar types of drinks varies a lot. Some ales are 3. Spirits used to be commonly served in 25ml measures, which are one unit of alcohol, many pubs and bars now serve 35ml or 50ml measures.

Large wine glasses hold ml, which is one third of a bottle. It means there can be nearly three units or more in just one glass.

So if you have just two or three drinks, you could easily consume a whole bottle of wine — and almost three times the UK Chief Medical Officers' low risk drinking guidelines — without even realising.

Smaller glasses are usually ml and some pubs serve ml. How to cut down your drinking at home. More information on alcohol unit guidelines. Arming yourself with strategies and tips can help you or a loved one take small steps towards big results. Clear spirits contain slightly fewer calories than dark spirits but the calories in vodka and other clear spirits can still quickly add up. If you regularly drink over these guidelines, you could be increasing your chances of developing long-term health conditions such as liver and heart disease , and seven types of cancer.

The benefits of drinking less alcohol. Checking a spirit's ABV alcohol by volume will give you a guide to how strong it is. The ABV tells you what percentage of the drink is made up of alcohol.

The higher the percentage, the more alcohol there is. To stay on track, try these top tips:. Stick to single measures of spirits. Avoid measuring spirits by eye — it's easy to over-pour. Why not order the unit measure cup from our online shop? Although spirits used to be commonly served in 25ml measures, many pubs and bars now serve them in 35ml or even 50ml measures. Ask before you buy so you can keep track of how much you are drinking. Drinking any kind of alcoholic shots will take you over the low risk guidelines very quickly, so best to avoid them.

If you drink regularly, your body starts to build up a tolerance to alcohol. This is one of the main reasons why many medical experts recommend taking r egular days-off from drinking to ensure you don't become addicted to alcohol. Alcohol free drinks are a good way of cutting down, and why not give our non-alcoholic cocktails a go?

Test out having a break for yourself and see what positive results you notice. Arming yourself with strategies and tips can help you or a loved one take small steps towards big results.

Home Facts Alcoholic drinks and units Units and calories in alcoholic drinks Spirits.