Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can also increase your cholesterol levels, raise your blood pressure, and make it harder for you to maintain a healthy weight which can then also increase your risk of developing dementia. Drinking too much alcohol is not good for us and drinking above the recommended guidelines on a regular basis can have negative impacts on your health, including potential impacts on your brain (alzheimers.org).
The national guidance on alcohol consumption:
- You are safest not to regularly drink more than 14 units per week, to minimise the health risks from drinking alcohol.
- If you do drink as much as 14 units per week, it is best to spread this evenly over three days or more. If you have one or two heavy drinking sessions, the risk of negative health impacts (including through injuries such as breaking bones and road traffic accidents) increases.
14 units is equivalent to 6 pints of average-strength beer or 10 small glasses of lower-strength wine – you can find details of the units for specific drinks and how to calculate units on the NHS website.
You can find some tips on cutting down on alcohol on the NHS website.
Healthy Lifestyles Warwickshire provides simple, helpful advice and expert local support to help you feel better and live healthier in Warwickshire. You can refer into this service for support to reduce alcohol intake if you are eligible.
If you are finding it difficult to change your habits around harmful alcohol consumption, Change, Grow, Live (CGL) provide free and confidential advice and support through one-to-one work or group sessions to help you reduce your alcohol consumption.
Find out more about the link between alcohol and dementia at alzheimers.org.