How to keep well

It's important to listen to your body’s needs and take care of yourself. One important way to stay health is to not regularly drink more than 14 units a week. If you regularly drink as much as this, it’s safest to spread your drinking evenly over three or more days. A good way to cut down the amount you drink is to have several drink-free days each week.

Here are some more tips on how to stay healthy.

Exercise

Exercise helps with your health and physical health, it gets those feel-good hormones pumping around your body, keeps you trim and can help you maintain bone density. Alcohol can also affect your exercise regime. Instead of having a drink to calm your post-work stress, exercise can be a great alternative.

Eat regularly

Because alcohol is made from sugar or starch, it contains lots of calories – seven calories a gram in fact, almost as many as pure fat! Calories from alcohol are also 'empty calories', so they have no nutritional value. Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach is also not good for your health. It's important to eat three low-fat, healthy meals a day, so put the focus on eating healthily and drinking less.

Reduce stress

Sometimes people turn to alcohol to try and deal with stress, but it can actually make it worse. Alcohol is a depressant which means that it slows down the brain and the central nervous system's processes. Why not try other stress busting techniques instead, like a meditation or yoga class, deep breathing, regular walks round the block or spending time with friends and family.

You can use our Unit and Calorie Calculator or MyDrinkaware tool to help you stick to the alcohol unit guidelines (of no more than 14 units a week for both men and women).

Take a break

Try not to drink alcohol every night to give your liver a chance to recuperate. Taking regular breaks from alcohol allows your body some repair and help decrease your risk of developing alcohol-related liver problems.