Binge drinking

Binge drinking – having a lot of alcohol in a short space of time – can be extremely dangerous.¹ Our bodies can only process roughly one unit of alcohol an hour - and less for some people. 

By drinking a lot quickly, the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream can stop your body from working properly. This puts you at greater risk of accidents, alcohol poisoning and other short- and long-term health issues.

But how much is a ‘binge’? And what do the experts recommend to keep yourself safe?

The UK Chief Medical Officers' (CMOs) low risk drinking guidelines recommend it’s safest for both men and women to drink no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days with several drink-free days, and no bingeing.

What is binge drinking?

The NHS defines binge drinking as ‘drinking heavily over a short space of time’.² Another way of thinking about it is ‘drinking to get drunk’.

More than 8 units of alcohol in a single session for males, or more than 6 units in a single session for females is the technical definition.³ That’s equivalent to about four pints of normal strength beer for a man or three pints for a woman.

• How much is one unit of alcohol?

We know that the risks of short-term harms like accidents or injuries increase between two to five times as a result of drinking between 5 and 7 units of alcohol in a single drinking session, compared with not drinking any alcohol at all.⁴

You become more vulnerable when you are drunk. The sorts of things that are more likely to happen if you drink a lot in a short space of time include accidents resulting in injury, misjudging risky situations or losing self-control. If you binge drink, you are likely to lose coordination, have impaired judgement and slower reaction times. Serious health risks from binge drinking include breathing problems, seizures, and brain damage.⁵

Official advice

The Chief Medical Officers advise that to keep your short-term health risks from single occasion drinking low, you should:⁶  

• Limit the total amount of alcohol you drink on any single occasion 
• Drink more slowly, drink with food, and alternate your drinks with water 
• Plan ahead to avoid problems - for example by making sure you can get home safely, or that you have people you trust with you

If you’re going out and think you’re going to drink, there are practical things you can do to keep your risk low:

• Avoid drinking in rounds
• Start drinking later
• Consider limiting your alcohol intake to only drinking with meals
• Replace an alcoholic drink with an alcohol-free one – there’s more choice than ever, with non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits available
• Try setting yourself a drink or spending limit - rather than using debit or credit card, stop when your cash runs out
• Never ‘pre-load’ with alcohol at home before going out to drink

The Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines also recommend it’s safest for both men and women to drink no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days with several drink-free days.

How to reduce your drinking

Why is binge drinking dangerous?

Your body can only process about one unit of alcohol per hour (watch our What is a Unit? animation to find out more).

Two large glasses of wine may not seem like very much. But each large glass of wine contains three units of alcohol and drinking six units of alcohol in a short space of time – an hour, say – will raise your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and can make you drunk very quickly.

Drinking the same amount over several hours as well as eating food during that time will have less effect on your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). We also have some top tips on how you can reduce your drinking.

Almost three out of ten (29%) of the estimated 3 million deaths caused by alcohol globally in 2016 were due to unintentional injury.⁷

What are the effects of binge drinking?

Getting drunk can harm your physical and mental health:

• Accidents and falls are common because being drunk affects your balance and co-ordination.^8,9 In extreme cases, you could die
• Overdosing on alcohol can stop you breathing or stop your heart, or you could choke on your vomit¹⁰
• Binge drinking can affect your mood and your memory¹¹ and, in the longer term, can lead to serious mental health problems,¹² with some evidence showing it is linked to suicide¹³
• There is evidence that binge drinking increases your risk of long-term health problems including becoming dependent on alcohol, alcohol-related cancer and heart disease¹⁴

Both men and women are at risk from alcohol poisoning, although women tend to have higher blood alcohol levels after drinking the same amount of alcohol as men, so may be at greater risk.

However, studies also show that men are at greater overall risk of short-term harm from alcohol¹⁵ (including from accidents and violence). That’s because, on average, they drink more in total and tend to consume more in a single session.¹⁶  

Acute alcohol poisoning is extremely dangerous. If you think someone might be experiencing alcohol poisoning, even if you have doubts, place them on their side in the recovery position and call 999 for an ambulance.

How to tell if you’re binge drinking

Have you ever asked yourself, 'am I binge drinking?' Even if you don't drink alcohol every day, you could be a binge drinker if you:

• Tend to drink quickly
• Sometimes drink to get drunk

If you binge drink, you are putting your health at risk even if you’re drinking less than 14 units per week in total (as advised by the Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines).

If you find it hard to stop drinking once you have started, you could also have a problem with binge drinking and possibly alcohol dependence.

Binge drinking can lead to anti-social, aggressive and violent behaviour.

Get help with binge drinking

A good place to start is taking our confidential online alcohol self-assessment, to see if you have cause for concern.

If you’re worried about your drinking, there are three main ways you can get specialist help:

• Through your GP surgery, which can provide you with advice or refer you for extra support
• Contact a local treatment provider and refer yourself
• Or contact a local community alcohol support service like Alcoholics Anonymous or SMART Recovery directly

You can also call Drinkline, the national alcohol helpline, on 0300 123 1110. It’s free and confidential.

Find out more about alcohol support services