Is there any reliable information , rather than guess figures , on what is safe or even healthy to drink on a daily basis . lots of information about positive effects of red wine - I probably drink an average of a bottle of red a day - is that positive or negative ? Most people would say this is too much but where does that information come from apart from the accepted norm ?

see http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_...icle2697975.ece

Firstly, I'm replying because no one else seems to be - I suspect because no one has a clue, perhaps because there is in fact so much contradictory info out there.

Secondly, Winston Churchill drank a lot of whisky...I understand that he was ALMOST constantly under the influence. I saw his secretary on television once confirm this, but she was careful to say that he was never 'rolling drunk'. He lived to 90 if I recall correctly. He also wrote his books standing at a lectern I understand, so one can assume that he was a fit old man in spite of the grog.

It's easy to say that everything is relative, but it is of course not just a cliche...it's true. I knew a lightweight female who could drink like a fish, and I have a male friend who drinks like 2 fish. Healthy, both of them. Both recover well.

One question of you, in my mind, would be 'how do you feel in the a.m.'? Another, over what period do U consume the bottle? Feel moderate later? Drink at leisure, don't slurp? Tempted to grab another bottle? Yes, but don't, or no? Drink on a totally empty stomach before food, or maybe with a bite or two? Start in the a.m. or in the afternoon? Are you a constitutionaly fit, a robust, person?

One hears various reports about the safe limits. Trouble is that these reports vary too much, to be, in my opinion, unreliable. One should, as in most areas, trust one's gut instinct in this respect, 'listen' to one's body. If I knew you, and you didn't ask yourself if U overdo it, then maybe I'd worry, but U do. This is a good sign. When U want to drink 2 a day, let me know. Cheers.

Both the UK and US government have issued guidelines on this.

For an otherwise healthy man in otherwise good health, UK guidelines put the safe limit at 24 to 32 gm of ethanol; US guideline is 28gm.

To figure out how many gms ethanol you're taking in:

1) Divide the "proof" of the alcohol (indicated on the labelm, and varuies, even among wines) in half. This is the percentage of ethanol.

2) Multiple this percentage by 1000 (number of gms in 1 liter) = number of grams in a liter of whatver it is you're drinking.

Wines usually range 9-14% alcohol.

Do the math and you'll see that even for a low proof wine (say 20 proof, or 10% alcohol) a full liter gives you 100gm of ethanol, or about 4 times the safe limit.

These recommendations assume the person is otherwise healthy. Any current or prior liver diseases (like hepatitis) would change things considerably and the amoun ts of alcohol listed here would not be safe for such a person.

In addition, since the liver in addition to having to detoxify ethanol also has to detoxify most drugs, if you are on any regular medication or frrequently take any sort of drug, that adds to your liver's workload and will decrease it's ability to handle alcohol.

Lastly, overall nutritional status is very important, especially B vitamin intake.

In other words -- assuming the wine is only 20 proof -- you shouldn't go beyond 250-350ml daily. (to be exact, 260ml by US recs, 240-320ml by UK recs).

Anyway you slice it, you are drinking far too much if you consume a bottle of red wine a day. (but somehow I don't think we needed all this math to establish that...). red wine in mioderation does seem to have some health ebenfits, but that's in moderation, i.e. a small glass or two.

I'm basically a tee-total abstainer by habit, but after my stroke in May, I've started drinking what the apostle Paul (on the advice of the physician Luke) referred to as "a little wine now and again," for medicinal purposes. About five nights a week, I drink less than 150 ml of 5% wine. I'm still not convinced that red wine is as healthy as red grapes, and find no evidence that wine is as healthy as grapes.

Ethanol is a poison, and 'intoxicated' is a past participle that means "victimized from having put a toxin in your body."

true enough.

And the healthy stuff in red wine can be obtained, minus the toxic ethanol, from grape juice/grapes, pomegranates and the like.

Just read yesterday, some study by UN that took 5 years to complete - men 2 drinks a day, women 1 drink.

A can of beer could be 2 drinks.