According to official health guidelines, it is actually above the threshold of binge drinking.
It’s true–our culture has lowered the bar so low for “normal“ drinking that we are often unaware of the dangers when our habits begin to change. What we consider casual drinking is often something entirely different. We can’t make informed choices when we don’t understand how alcohol affects us, our energy and our overall well-being if we don’t know what we’re doing.
We’ll explore what constitutes “normal“ drinking and why many of us drink incorrectly.
The Real Definition Of Moderate Drinking
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, moderate drinking is:
- Women: up to 1 drink a day
- Men: up to two drinks per day
That’s it. When they say “1 glass”, they mean:
- 12 oz. of beer (at 5 % ABV)
- 5 oz. Of wine (at 12 % ABV).
- 1.5 oz distilled spirit (at 40% ABV).
If you pour a large glass of wine and refill it at least once, this is probably more than just “two drinks”. And what about a whole bottle of wine? These are five standard drinks, not four, as many people believe.
Understanding these numbers is important. Once you exceed this range, moderate drinking is no longer possible.
Binge drinking isn’t just a college thing.
Do you think of frat parties when you hear the term “binge-drinking”? You are not alone. You might be surprised by the definition.
According to the NIAAA, binge drinking is:
- Four or more drinks per woman
- Five or more drinks per man
- Eaten within two hours
This means that a woman who drinks two glasses of red wine while cooking, one glass while eating dinner, and another glass while watching a film has technically binge-drunk. It’s the same for a guy who drinks five beers at a barbeque.
This type of consumption is very common and not often criticized. Your body does not care whether you are at a party or a quiet dinner. It processes alcohol in the same manner. Once you’ve crossed the threshold of binge drinking, your health risks will start to rise.
What is high-intensity drinking?
High-intensity alcohol is a category that’s less well-known than binge drinking. Researchers use this term to describe situations where someone drinks twice as much alcohol in one session.
- Women should drink eight drinks or more
- Ten or more drinks for Men
It happens more than you might think. We can overdo things at weddings, birthdays, vacations, or just for a night out.
What’s the driving force behind this?
Alcohol is a coping strategy for many people who are dealing with stress, burnout and other issues such as parenting, work pressures, and the mental burden of the pandemic. Mid-life adults pick up the slack, while younger adults drink less.
Why “Normal“, Doesn’t Mean Healthy
It’s not just the amount of alcohol that’s a problem, but the way we drink. This is what’s affecting our health. The six-pack you have on Friday night may seem harmless, but there are trade-offs.
- Poor sleep quality
- Anxiety increases the following day
- Immune system reduced
- Heart arrhythmias, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases are at increased risk
- Increased risk of emotional or mental crashes, including memory loss, decision fatigue and memory lapses
Let’s not overlook the subtle effects: feeling disconnected, Sunday dread creeping in, or losing motivation for your wellness goals.
Normal doesn’t always mean good. Normal isn’t necessarily the best.
Awareness is the only thing that can give you what willpower cannot.
No one is saying you have to be perfect. You will experience good times, bad days, and everything in between. But when you know the categories–moderate, binge, high-intensity–you’re better equipped to make choices that align with your goals.
As an example:
- Consider considering drinking that fourth beverage if your goal is to sleep better.
- Reduce the intensity of your sessions if you want to improve your mood and reduce anxiety.
- You might be better off limiting your alcohol consumption and spacing it out over a week than drinking all you can on a Friday night.
Quick Gut Check
Here are some questions to ponder:
- How do I feel if I have more than four drinks in one night?
- How many times do I cross that line without realizing it?
- Does this habit help you achieve your goals?
- What type of alcohol helps me to feel like the person I want to become?
You don’t need to quit to see big changes.
It’s not about shame or making sweeping statements. Clarity is key. You can shape your habits more effectively when you understand what is happening to your body and how far it has strayed from being healthy.
This could be interpreted as:
- Reduce your drinking by just one or two drinks.
- Switching to alcohol-free alternatives
- Limiting the number of drinks before you go to bed
- Choose to skip the last drink.
Awareness creates space. In that space, you can choose what you want to do.
Last tip: If you want to reduce your drinking, go about it in your way but with clarity. Most people don’t know the truth about normal drinking.
When you do this, everything changes.
Sunnyside can help you achieve your goals, whatever they may be. Join thousands who are improving their relationship with drinking alcohol by taking a free 15-day trial.
Sunnyside is a suburb of Toronto.
Sunnyside, a mindfulness app and alcohol moderation tool that uses a science-backed approach to help you change your drinking habits can help. Sunnyside will help you achieve your goals, whether you are looking to be a more conscious drinker, reduce the amount of alcohol you consume, or even quit drinking. Sunnyside takes a friendly, positive approach to changing habits so that you don’t feel judged.
You’ll complete a 3-minute assessment when you join Sunnyside so that we can get to know you better. After completing the evaluation, you will receive a 15-day trial period to try out all of our tools. This includes daily habit changes, tracking, and analytics. This is a complete package that adapts to your goals and helps you achieve them slowly.
Sunnyside is an online habit-change and behaviour-change tool that can be extremely effective alone but also complements other efforts to reduce drinking. These could include talk therapy or medications such as Naltrexone.
