Heavy drinkers beware: your health is at stake!

Link to story: http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/26/health/heavy-drinking-definition/index.html?hpt=he_bn2

Most women think that they need to be drinking around 15 to 20 drinks per week to be considered a “heavy drinker”. Well this just isn’t true and you would be shocked at what the number really is.

Women are technically considered “heavy drinkers” if you have around 8 or more drinks per week. Men are considered heavy drinkers at 14 drinks per week.

It is also estimated that one in 10 deaths in adults ages 20 to 64, is a direct result of over drinking. The majority of these people turn out to be men, at about 70%.

The reason why the definition of heavy drinking is different between men and women is because of body size. Women also metabolize less alcohol in their stomach then men, so more ends up in your blood stream. And by the way, an single drink isn’t a giant Mardi Gras size glass, its 12 ounces of beer, 8 ounces of malt liquor, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled liquor (gin, rum, vodka, whisky, ect.).

So why has the definition of “heavy drinker” changed over the years? They say it is based on scientific evidence that alcohol is very damaging to the body over time and if you drink too much. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism rates have also risen over the past 20 years, so the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse needed to change their qualifications. Sexual assault and violence has also skyrocketed as a result of alcohol-induced interactions. It is sad, but true, and most events like this that happen, alcohol is involved in either the victim or assailant.