The number of Irish adults who understand alcohol consumption guidelines is “extremely low,” according to a responsible drinking charity.

A new survey by DrinkAware has found just 3% of adults know the low-risk guidelines for consumption.

The HSE recommends no more than 11 standard drinks in a week for a woman or 17 for a man.

Standard drink awareness

DrinkAware CEO Dearbhla O’Brien explained what a standard drink is.

“The awareness of what a standard drink is is actually extremely low," she said.

“A standard drink, as a rule of thumb, is a glass of beer or lager – and a pint would be two standard drinks.

“It's also a small glass of wine, so that's 100mls or a pub measure of spirits.

“When you add it up, drinking anything over three pints of beer in one sitting would be considered binge drinking.”

The HSE guidelines say six standard drinks or more is considered binge drinking.

The new survey found over half of adults who drink alcohol in Ireland have been binge drinking in the last month.

Alcohol consumption

Ms O’Brien said over a third of adults are now seeking to reduce their alcohol consumption.

“That actually rises quite significantly amongst young adults, which is very encouraging,” she said.

“People also familiarise themselves with the benefits of actually cutting back, taking time off and seeing for themselves, because the benefits are immediate.

“You'll look better, you'll feel better, you'll sleep better, you'll lose weight, you'll save money.

“There are quite tangible benefits that people can experience very quickly.”

Binge drinking

Ms O’Brien also warned against binge drinking.

“It takes one hour for your liver to process a standard drink," she said.

“Binge drinking occurs when you're drinking faster than your liver can process, putting it under pressure and doing this regularly and over time can lead to a number of serious health problems.”

Almost six-in-10 Irish adults say they drink every week.

Main image: Two glasses clinking, one wine and one water because the person is sober. Image: nalinframe / Alamy Stock Photo