Australia - new Alcohol Guidelines

[Kaz747]

Last week revised guidelines for alcohol consumption were released in Australia, reducing the recommended standard drinks for HEALTHY people from 14 per week to 10.

nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/news-...

I know many of us don’t drink or just have the occasional glass. With heart rhythm issues we probably don’t make the healthy cut (even though we may be healthy by many other measures).

🥂🍾🍷🍹🥃🍸🍺🍻

[Ianp66]

Hope your well Kaz and an interesting read that , especially with Xmas coming.

Repeating what I said on another thread I commented on, suffering SVT and afib after drinking I gave up around 4 years ago now I think, as after even one drink with a meal could trigger AF and SVT landing me in A@E. Now 9 months nearly after ablation and I can have a lager it seems with no effects, haven't dared try white wine which I loved as thst was instant AF and isn't worth it.

Seems to affect some not others, but we can't be scared of living I suppose, so a little of what you like and enjoy life is my idea of trying to balance it up.

I bet its a lot warmer out there than here right now, are you affected with the Bush fires at all, they don't look good.

[Kaz747 in reply to Ianp66]

I didn’t drink at all for about 12 months. Now I have a very occasional small drink. I will enjoy a glass of Good quality Champagne on Christmas Day. Having a conversation with a cardiologist last week he said the latest research out of Melbourne says those with AF should have no more than 2 standard drinks a week.

We have had the hottest start to summer since records began and last Wednesday was Australia’s hottest ever day with the average temperature at 41.9 degrees across Georgia country (our hottest days usually arrive in February). There have been some fires on the outskirts of Perth. The fires in the east are dreadful with hundreds of people losing their homes and some lives have been lost. Many Aussies won’t be having a good Christmas this year.

[Hidden]

G'day Kaz,

Merry Christmas to you .... and I hope you continue to stay safe from bush fires. They've certainly had it real bad in the Eastern states. Hope you continue your winning ways with AF in 2020 and beyond.

These guidelines seem as vague as ours in UK ... which state max 14 units a week. ( 6 x 175 ml glasses of wine).

Well now, in that case I'm doomed !

I just recently had my bus drivers licence holders medical review with my GP on behalf of our licencing authority and we came to the question of alcohol consumption. How much do you consume - 14 units she queried ?

Dunno I said, I drink my booze out of a glass, the booze comes out of a bottle I don't drink alcohol in units. She rolled her eyes ( you could she was thinking 'smartass'). So we discussed it and she put down 21 units a week.

The point I'm making on our Drinkaware calculators here in UK I guarantee very few people can instantly say what a unit is if asked. Why don't these advisory bodies simply say a 175 ml or medium size glass of wine ( or whatever the measure of the poison is?) seems to be more meaningful to state the guidelines in a way which drinkers can immediately identify with rather than have them perform mental conversions all the time.

According to the Oz proposals the proposed guidelines are of 10 x 100ml glasses of wine a week whereas in Pommieland we talk 14 x 175ml glasses of wine a week. Now that's a huge difference which tends to make a mockery of it all in that health authorities of two western nations don't appear to be able to agree on whats harmful and what isn't.

In terms of my AF ... my drinking, be it alcohol, iced or chilled drinks, tea or coffee or spirits has never triggered my AF, food and lots and lots of different food most certainly has.

John

[Kaz747 in reply to Hidden]

Hi John

I think the issue is that all drinks are different and the alcoholic percentage is different. By law here, all alcoholic beverage packaging need to be labeled with how many standard drinks they contain. Most 750ml wine bottles contain 7.5 standard drinks. I just checked my husband’s beer in the fridge - one contains 1.1 standard drinks and another is 1.2 so as long as you can read and add up (and be aware when pouring wine how much you are pouring) it’s easy enough to work out. A standard drink is spirits is generally 30 mls. I’m not sure about packaging laws in other countries.