GUY'S TIP: Alcohol

Guys do love to have an alcoholic beverage at some stage during the week. Whether it's a beer, a bourbon or a bundy, guys tend to drink more than the recommended number of standard drinks. Whilst evidence shows that a little alcohol might be good, sadly more is not better, and drinking to excess is definitely harmful.

The French paradox that so many of us hear about, consists of a diet that is high in fat and red wine, but surprising the French have a low rate of heart disease. This is the exact opposite of what is recommended by health professionals to ensure a healthy heart. So why is this so? Wine drinkers are believed to be less likely to smoke, have better eating habits and only drink in moderation. They tend to drink wine on a more regular basis and normally it is with food. Beer on the other hand, is normally drunk by itself and normally in numbers. It's called binge drinking and is believed to cause more drunkenness than that experienced by regular wine drinkers.

The health benefits of drinking alcohol are linked to reduced heart disease, especially in men. Alcohol may also protect you from diabetes, but that's if you have between one to five standards drinks per week and spread them out evenly over the week, rather than consuming them in the one sitting. So what is a standard serve of alcohol? A standard serve of alcohol is equal to 10g of alcohol which in terms of drinks equals:

• 100ml of wine
• 425ml of lite beer
• 285ml of full strength beer
• 30ml of spirits
• 60ml of fortified wine

More often than not, a glass of wine would contain over 100ml of wine and the schooners of beer are definitely more than a standard drink. So how many standard drinks are you allowed to have? For you guys it's four standard drinks per day and for those of you that have high blood pressure, the limit is two standard drinks of alcohol per day. Also, you need two alcohol free days each week and no, you can't save your daily drink intake for a binge session on the weekend.

For those of you who do binge on alcohol, here's a snapshot of what it's doing to your health:

• Cancer - alcohol doesn't reduce the risk of nay cancers, but increases the risk the more you drink. Drinking more than five standard drinks a day will increase the likelihood of any cancer. Excessive drinking can increase cancers of the throat, oesophagus and airways into the lungs.
• Liver function - excess alcohol consumption can lead to cirrohosis - death of the cells in the liver. This can lead to many complications including ascites (excess fluid retention), portal hypertension (high blood pressure in the portal vein) and oesphageal varices (enlarged veins in the throat).
• Excess weight - alcoholic drinks contain a lot of kilojoules and excess consumption can lead to weight gain. We also tend to eat a lot of snack food such as potato chips, hot chips and kebabs which also contributes to excess weight gain.

So next time you drink with the boys, instead of aiming for the highest number of schooners in a night, aim to remember your night, by reducing the amount of drinks you have.