Binge drinking limit to be carried out

Alcohol guidelines should be updated to include a ‘binge drinking limit’ – the maximum amount that should be consumed in one day, an expert has told MPs.

Nick Heather, a professor of alcohol and drug studies, said that on no account should overall recommended drinking levels be raised.

Instead, the Government should issue advice on safe drinking limits for a week – and give an upper limit for any one day.

Professor Heather said the ‘binge drinking limit’ could be set to eight units a day, ‘or maybe a bit lower’. He suggested it could be six units for women.

A can of lager or a standard (175ml) glass of wine contains two units, so this would set the upper limit at four glasses of wine or four cans of lager. Six to eight shots of spirits would also fit the criteria.

Downing large amounts of alcohol in a short period of time does more damage to the heart and liver than spreading the same amount over several days.

The drunkenness can also fuel violence, unplanned pregnancies and relationship breakdowns.

The Government recommends men should not regularly drink more than three to four units of alcohol a day and women should not regularly drink more than two to three units a day.

But it does not give specific advice on binge drinking.

Professor Heather said the belief that small amounts of alcohol are good for health was much stronger in the past than it is today.

He later told the Mail: ‘There is some evidence that even for fairly light drinking, it is a good idea to give the body a rest and give the liver a rest.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, former president of the Royal College of Physicians and a liver expert, said: ‘As someone who still looks after people with liver disease, and with hospital admissions rising, I think any recommendation to increase limits would sail against the tide of harm that we are seeing in our hospitals every day.’

But Dr Richard Harding, who helped draw up the limits in 1995, argued that small amounts of alcohol can be good for health and urged the committee to retain ‘a sense of perspective’ in any decision it makes.

He said that, for instance, the improved heart health that comes with moderate drinking outweighs any increased risk of breast cancer in older women.

The committee also heard calls for sensible drinking campaigns to be run independently of the drinks’ industry. It will hear evidence from the Department of Health before coming up with its recommendations.

All pubs and bars could be allowed to stay open late for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend under Government plans.