How much do you really drink in a week? Enter a typical week's drinks to see the units, standard drinks and calories — and whether it is low or increasing risk.
Fill in the details and click Calculate to see your results.
Different drinks contain very different amounts of alcohol. A unit (UK) is 10 ml or 8 g of pure alcohol — a small peg of whisky has about 1.3 units, a 650 ml bottle of strong beer about 5.2 units.
The UK's Chief Medical Officers advise no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days with some alcohol-free days. The US guideline is up to 2 drinks a day for men and 1 for women. The calories add up too: alcohol has 7 kcal per gram.
| Sex | Male |
| Days you drink in a week | 3 days |
| Beer — large bottle (650 ml, 5%) | 6 |
| Whisky / rum / vodka / gin — small peg (30 ml) | 4 |
| UK units a week | 24.3 |
| Risk level | Increasing risk |
| US standard drinks (14 g) | 13.9 a week (US guideline: up to 14 — 2 a day) |
| WHO standard drinks (10 g) | 19.4 a week |
| Pure alcohol | 194 g a week, 10.1 kg a year |
| Calories from these drinks | 1,960 kcal a week ≈ 280 a day — over a year, the energy in 13.2 kg of body fat |
| Binge drinking | About 8.1 units on a drinking day — more than 6 (women) or 8 (men) units in one session counts as binge drinking |
24.3 units — Increasing risk.
| Sex | Female |
| Days you drink in a week | 2 days |
| Wine — glass (150 ml) | 4 |
| UK units a week | 24.0 |
| Risk level | Increasing risk |
| US standard drinks (14 g) | 13.7 a week (US guideline: up to 7 — 1 a day) |
| WHO standard drinks (10 g) | 19.2 a week |
| Pure alcohol | 192 g a week, 10.0 kg a year |
| Calories from these drinks | 1,830 kcal a week ≈ 261 a day — over a year, the energy in 12.4 kg of body fat |
| Binge drinking | About 12.0 units on a drinking day — more than 6 (women) or 8 (men) units in one session counts as binge drinking |
24.0 units; 1,830 kcal a week ≈ 261 a day — over a year, the energy in 12.4 kg of body fat.
A 330 ml can of 5% beer is 1.7 units; a 650 ml bottle is 3.3 units; a 650 ml bottle of 8% strong beer is 5.2 units.
A 30 ml small peg at 42.8% is 1.3 units (about 10 g of alcohol); a 60 ml large peg is 2.6 units.
The WHO says no level of drinking is completely safe for health. Keeping within 14 units a week keeps the risk low; drinking more than 6–8 units in one session counts as binge drinking.