Excessive Drinking

[BENIDORM]

It's very difficult to be a moderate drinker while living in a place like Spain, where alcohol is so cheap, and the lifestyle makes drinking so acceptable. I personally really enjoy a drink, but even as a 'social drinker',when adding up the number of units that I consume each week, I find that I am well over the 'accepted' level...

I've known many people ,over the years, who have suffered the consequences of excessive drinking, ie, marriage breakups, losing their homes, violence, road accidents etc...I'm sure everyone is quite aware, but do we recognise when we are personally drinking too much?..It can 'creep up' on you, and without realising it , we could be well over the accepted limits.
One unit is half a pint of beer or a small glass of wine or a single measure of spirits...and how many bars in Spain serve one unit of spirits, just having one glass of spirits and you are probably already exceeding your recommended daily intake.....,21 units for men and 14 units for women per week...doesn't seem much..does it?..In fact it is very easy to use up your recommended intake in one evening......

Having a good meal before you start drinking is obviously a good way of helping before you go out, and drinking plenty of water etc,.....But the only real way to help is to 'cut down'....not that easy,I have tried during the last few weeks, but found it difficult.....I do try to have alcohol free periods, usually 2 or 3 days, and I'm sure it helps.....I'm really not a heavy 'boozer', and can go without drink for weeks if necessary, but don't want to, I enjoy a drink...so what do I do?...Any good tips, anyone......?

[MrsP]

I heard somewhere that it takes 3 days for the liver to repair itself and you should have 3 out of 10 alcohol free days.

[katy]

It is worrying, as Benidorm says it is easy to go over the units, maybe they are a little on the conservative side We have a bottle of wine between us every night and hubby a gin and tonic usually. Don't usually drink in the daytime but when we have visitors it is hard to stick to this rule. I suppose as a woman I probably drink too many units, but I feel very well and my medical checks are good. The odd occasions when I have drunk too much I feel so *beep* the next day it puts me off. Do like the occasional coffee and brandy though

I think that a lot of people here do tend to drink too much, seen them get into vindictive arguements about trivial things

[laclotte]

I think that a lot of people here do tend to drink too much, seen them get into vindictive arguments about trivial things

In reply to a PM received a few days ago, where the sender could not understand a certain 'aggressiveness' of another poster, my reply was it seemed to get worse as the evening got later and I put it down to his ever increasing alcohol intake

[gretch]

We drink far less here than we did in Britain, must be the lack of stress.
I presume we’re not the only exception.

gretch

[BENIDORM]

Most people that I have met in Spain tend to consume more alcohol than they did in other countries, but spread out over longer periods, so although they don't appear to be excessive with their drinking habits, they are in fact 'way over' their recommended levels.
How many residents have a coffee and a brandy in the morning, and when visiting friends, a glass of wine or a beer...or two...
I don't drink any alcoholic drinks until the evening, and even then only 2 or 3 medium glasses of wine and usually with a meal or tapas....

Anyway all I can suggest is that everyone is aware of their alcohol intake, and keep it under control, and don't forget the extra calories you are consuming.....
I'm having a 'tee total' week ,starting today, no more drink until the weekend,.....Cheers......

[Cassandra]

Lack of choice of good quality soft drinks doesn't help. In the bars near us the choice is coca cola, fanta limon or fruit juice, boring! Even trying to get something as simple as a white wine spritzer requires planning Yes, I know that's still alcohol but it does halve the amount your drinking!

[MrsP]

Our local does non alcohol shnapps in several flavours, blackberry, kiwi, peach. They are nice over ice with casera. They also do non alcohol wine which is really grape and apple juice but in a bottle.
Vino blanco con casera for a spritzer or my Calimocho ( red wine and diet coke )
The amount of time we spend in the bar I have to keep things watered down

I would drink 0% beer but it's higher in calories

[Cassandra]

... and one of the reasons for drinking less, apart from the obvious, is to reduce calories. Personally I can't stand the saccharine taste of diet drinks, though you don't notice it when the casera is mixed with red wine & martini One of our bars has just started selling Nestea but it's a bit watery to drink all night. Sounds like you have a good choice where you are!

[MrsP]

Sugar free tastes alot better than it used to. If you haven't tried it for a while give it another go. We buy sugar free everything, Mercadona do a nice fizzy lemon or orange.
Vodka and diet mixer is the best for low calorie but the measures are too big for me to have more than 2

[jennyshaw]

Apparently Vodka and Cranberry juice is one of the lower calorie drinks, I don't know what Cranberries are called in Spain though.

[ValL]

When I first came down here I drank way too much everything, stopped work and gained lots of weight

I have almost stopped having the sweet drinks, bar the occasional Fanta lemon or that one with salts/ minerals in (cant remember the name) I drink filtered water throughout the day.

No alcohol till dinner then try to only have 1/2 glasses and a night cap of one of the delicious creme selection you can get, sometimes a good malt whisky. It is still over the given UK limit but I am trying to be good

[avellana]

Cranberries and blueberries are called arándanos.

[jennyshaw]

Avellana, Thanks. I might try it the next time I am over, if I can pronounce it.

I normally have the Vodka with Fanta Limon. yummy.

[Karipentti]

Jenny; I have seen Ocean Spray cranberry juice in some supermarkets. At least the Mijas Costa Euromarket carries it. That's the real Canadian stuff.

[ValL]

hmmmm love Ocean Spray cranberry juice, sure we found it somewhere, may have been Gib, must check shelves in Carriefour and Hypercor Seville for it.

[Cassandra]

Mercadona also sell cranberry juice and a really nice Don Simon juice mix called Red Berry Nectar, printed in 4 languages though If you mix it with casera it tastes very similar to one of the J2O flavours, shame they don't sell it in the bars

[Retro P]

Interesting topic this, my wife happened to say to me just yesterday, "you've drank alcohol every day now for two weeks" she's right but having said that I very rarely over indulge, maybe once or twice a year, but do any of you consider having 3-4 beers almost every night, a problem? I'm a big lad and a small beer is a little more than a mouthfull for me!

[Cassandra]

Shouldn't be, it's only a couple of pints after all It' the brandy for breakfast, wine with lunch and afternoon cocktails that do the damage

[ValL]

I did find when I was drinking more than I am now that I was less likely to sleep well and was more tired, but I have been on antibiotics and a course of Chinese medicine so maybe they both had an effect also.