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One unit is 10ml of pure alcohol: units = volume (ml) x ABV / 1000. UK guidance for both men and women is no more than 14 units a week, spread over 3 or more days with drink-free days. If cutting down feels difficult, your GP or Drinkline (0300 123 1110) can help.
What The Alcohol Units Calculator Works Out
- Units per drink: volume in ml x ABV / 1,000, since a UK unit is 10 ml of pure alcohol. A pint of 5% lager is 2.8 units, a large 250 ml glass of 13% wine 3.3, a bottle of wine nearly 10 and a double spirit 2. Strengths have drifted upward under people's mental arithmetic, with many lagers at 5% rather than the 3.5% the original unit examples assumed, so counting from labels beats counting from memory.
- Units per week: units per drink multiplied by how many you have, compared with the UK Chief Medical Officers' guideline of no more than 14 units a week, the same for men and women since 2016. Five pints across a week is 14 units, the entire guideline, before a glass of anything else. The guideline marks low risk, not none.
- Calories per week: units x about 80 kcal, covering the alcohol (56 kcal per unit) plus the typical sugars and carbohydrate in beer, cider and wine before any mixers. Fourteen units is roughly 1,100 kcal, a hidden meal and a half.
- Second drink (advanced): add a second regular drink so a mixed week of pints and wine is counted together; the breakdown table shows each drink's units, calories and cost.
- Days a week you drink (advanced): spreads the weekly total across your drinking days to give units per session, flagged against the 8-unit (men) or 6-unit (women) single-occasion level the NHS uses to define binge drinking. Guidance is to spread drinking over three or more days with several drink-free days and no saving up for one heavy session.
- Price per drink and weekly spend (advanced): the week's drinks at your average price. A UK pub pint averages around GBP 5 to GBP 6 and well above that in London, so five pints a week is roughly GBP 1,400 a year.
- Calories per unit (advanced): adjust the 80 kcal default: pure alcohol alone is 56 kcal per unit, dry wine and spirits with diet mixers sit near that, while sweet cider and strong ales run higher.
- Over a year and walking it off (advanced): annual units, cost and calories, plus the brisk walking time needed to burn the week's alcohol calories at about 5 kcal a minute. Disrupted sleep and next-day performance track units closely; smaller glasses, lower-ABV swaps, alternating with soft drinks and drink-free weekdays measurably work.
- Caveats: anyone finding it hard to cut down can talk to their GP or Drinkline free on 0300 123 1110; dependent drinkers should seek medical advice before stopping suddenly, as abrupt withdrawal can be dangerous.
Source and further reading: NHS: alcohol advice.