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A House of Commons committee recently recommended that people should have at least two alcohol-free days a week (I wonder how many MPs abide by that). So I thought I would ask readers whether two heavy weekend sessions would be better than drinking a modest amount every day. I deliberately chose 14 pints as it is a little above the official government guidelines, but still within the 21-30 weekly units range which the research on which the guidelines were based actually said was associated with the best health outcomes.

And the results were quite clear, with 48 out of 59 respondents, more than four-fifths, reckoning that, overall, two pints a day would be better. In reality, I doubt whether there would be much difference, but drinking seven pints might result in a marginal increase in the likelihood of stroke or heart attack, not to mention the risk of banging your head or being knocked down when crossing the road.

I am not a scientist, but gut feeling strongly suggests that the “little and often” approach is likely to be kinder to your body in the long run. Drinkers who survive into great old age generally seem to adopt a regular routine of modest imbibing. And, while it might theoretically be better for you, I can’t really believe that three pints five days a week is going to make any difference compared with two seven days a week.

However, as I said here, present-day social mores tend to militate against that kind of regular drinking:
The office worker who ostentatiously sips bottled water during the day, but then goes out and has ten pints of Stella on Friday night, is regarded much more positively than his colleague who has a couple of pints of bitter in the pub round the corner each lunchtime. “Work hard and play hard”, not “moderation in all things”, is the motto for our times.



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