Drinking A Bottle Of Wine A Day – Is It Cause For Concern?

Lots of people drink alcohol, and lots opt for wine as their choice of poison (literally!).

From a drinking a glass or two, to drinking a bottle of wine a day is not really a massive leap in terms of alcohol intake.

Kinda creeps up on you.

Ooh, it’s wine o’clock’ or jokes on social media about if is too early to drink wine at 8 in the morning – because it is always ‘funny’ to joke about excessive alcohol use :/

Often, yes they are ‘jokes’ and usually done in good humour – but, that only really ‘normalises’ the fact that we are still willingly throwing poison into our bodies. Usually without even the very consideration about numerous health issues that come along with alcohol abuse.

Many people drink regularly – in is normalised in our society.

Through upbringing, media and social expectations, alcohol is a theme that runs strong.

“A bottle a day is a lot of wine, over the space of a week, a month , a year. If you are drinking a bottle of wine a day, then that’s likely a problem could be on the horizon, or it may even be there. “

At work, I often hear of people drinking a bottle of wine (or two, or more and often with a giggle as they say it) as their ‘go-to’ way to end their day or as a way to simply relax.  Many people do it, and it is seen as quite a normal thing to do.

Let’s take our mindset out of ‘normality’ for a while and see just what we/they are doing to themselves. Like we were talking to an alien 🙂

Wine or whatever, it is an addictive poison. One that can kill us. One that costs a lot of money. One that kills more people than all other drugs combined (addictioncenter.com). Yet one that is openly encouraged to take by so many people surrounding our lives.

As I say, alcohol intake is normalised.  

Drinking is a personal choice that can have negative consequences. If you frequently intend to stop at one drink and end up overindulging, if you’ve tried quitting drinking but been unsuccessful, or your alcohol consumption has caused problems in your family life or friendships then it might be time for some changes.

Have you missed out on school work, activities because of hangovers?

Maybe it’s time to cut back so things don’t get worse!

The use of drugs such as heroin may seem like an escape from the challenges associated with addiction but often lead users into more severe health conditions such as AIDS (HIV), hepatitis C (HCV) which are spread through needles used by drug addicts who share among themselves their dirty tools when injecting

Drinking wine is popular, this is absolute.

From all walks of life, it is not uncommon for people to reach for a glass of wine when they finish work for the day, with meals, out with friends…the list goes on.

So much so, that wine is often part of people’s lives. Routine. And from routine….often comes habit. Many people remain constant with their wine consumption, and also many people increase as time goes by. A glass of wine becomes two glasses…becomes a bottle of wine. Roll on to the future and that bottle of wine can easily become ‘drinking a bottle of wine every day’.

Think about it, the jump from the occasional glass to a regular glass per evening is quite minimal in the grand scheme of things. As is going from one glass to two glasses of wine. Easily done. Blink and you could well find yourself at the ‘drinking a bottle of wine every day’ stage without even realising it.

So….so you are at that stage…you are now drinking a bottle of wine every day/night….so what? Is a full bottle of wine every 24 hours really that bad for you?

There are lots of things in our faces now related to drinking wine – but is drinking a bottle of wine a day cause for concern? 

In short, yes. Let’s discuss.

But is drinking a bottle of wine a day a lot of alcohol to consume? 

What even is ‘a lot’, in terms of alcohol intake?

Let’s take a look.

A 750ml bottle of red, white or rosé wine (ABV 13.5%) contains 10 units – https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-support

Ok there are some variants

So, doing the maths – a bottle of wine a day is around 70 units per week. Considering the recommended alcohol consumption is around14 units per week – then using this consideration – drinking a bottle of wine a day is around 5 times the recommended weekly intake – 5 TIMES!!  

Now, we all know that alcohol, regardless of if it is dressed up in wine, beer, gin or whatever – is still exactly the same.  It is the same drug. Alcohol companies package this drug to make it sexy, fun and all nice things. 

But let’s not remember that advertising companies’ sole job is to sell products and make money.  This has been seen even more in the Corona Virus, of all situations to jump on! Read here about all of that….I digress anyway.

So, it is very easy to get sucked into this social norm that alcohol is fine to drink in moderation – and for some, moderation is a bottle of wine per day. 

A bottle of wine holds around 3 glasses of wine, and that lowers to 3 if you use 250 ml glasses.  

Now come on, surely 3 drinks per day cannot be THAT bad, can it?

Hmmm. Drinking a bottle of wine a day is actually 5 times the recommended amount of alcohol consumption – recommended by the health organisation or the NHS.  

Bear in mind, these numbers are not just plucked out of the air.  These are based on facts, facts based on tests to see exactly what effects that consuming alcohol has on the body.   

I am drinking a bottle of wine a day. What does that mean?

This answer all depends on the person. Yes, there are people out there that can drink this amount and more, and seemingly have zero effects on them. And there are people out there who could not cope with half of this amount, daily or weekly. This totally depends on you.

Facts to note, if you are drinking a bottle of wine per day.

If you are now drinking a bottle of wine a day, or more then there are some things that are variable, person to person. This is a given. But there are some facts that you can not ignore, no matter how much we pretty them up.

If you are drinking a bottle of wine a day, then absolutely –

• You are consuming at least 4,000 excess calories per week
• You are spending around 15k (GBP) on wine every year
• Increased risk of various types of cancers
• High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems (https://www.cdc.gov/)

Some of these figures are based on averages, e.g. calories or spend. But here, we have gone with the mid-to-low range for all of these. And these figures are based solely on drinking a bottle of wine a day, let alone what comes with that – eating worse foods, less exercise, all that generally happens when anyone drinks more alcohol.

Does drinking a bottle of wine every day make me an ALCOHOLIC?

Firstly, we all have opinions on ‘labels’ – and I personally don’t like the term ‘alcoholic’, but I use it at times. Simply because the word is recogniable.

If you are using alcohol to cover up emotional pain, or if you feel that life without alcohol is just not worth living, then chances are that you have a drinking problem. If your drinking has caused problems with your health and relationships with others, then it is time for the next step: looking at yourself closely.

To assess your alcohol consumption, ask yourself these questions: 

• Do you frequently intend to stop at one drink and over indulge?
• Have you tried to quit drinking and been unsuccessful?
• Do you have cravings for alcohol or miss school, work or family functions because of a hangover caused by heavy drinking from the night before.
• Does your drinking put others in harm’s way (including friends)?
• Is it causing problems with friendships/family life due to talking about them when drunk too often?.
• Do you secretly drink or hide your alcohol from others (i.e. in the shower, buried at the bottom of a water bottle, etc). 
• Is it affecting your health?
• Are you having problems with constipation that does not seem to respond to changes in diet or exercise?
• Do you suffer from redness and/or acne on your body?
• Are you noticing that your clothes are getting tighter or looser?
• Has the taste of food changed? Are you less attracted to healthy foods and more drawn to junk food?
• Do you eat more (including due to alcohol) or don’t feel hungry at normal times?

These can be signs that you are drinking too much and it is affecting your health.   Drinking too much may sound obvious, but the first step is identifying if you have a problem in the first place. 

What can I do if I am drinking a bottle of wine a day and want to stop?

There are various ways and approaches to quitting drinking.

Seek help, read books, FIND YOUR TRIBE!!

A great start would be with our very own guide – 15 actionable steps to control your drinking.

If you are just looking suggestions on how to reduce from drinking a bottle of wine a day then we have created a 9 step guide on how to help you to give yourself the best chance to reduce your drinking – get it here on pdf.