Christmas and New Year often involve a fair amount of drinking for most adults, so here are some tools to help you make smarter choices about drinking alcohol.

There are many factors that go into how your body reacts to alcohol, Lions Club information hub Alcohol&Me offers tips and quizzes with the key mantra Size, Pace and Space, said Alcohol&Me spokesperson Jude Walter.

“Get to know the size of the drinks you are having (look at the label to find out) and stop kidding yourself it was just ‘one drink’ if it was actually a lot more.

“Drink at a pace that is right for you on that occasion – don’t be led astray by others.

“And finally think about how you can space your drinks out to last the occasion in style; for example, eating, having a non-alcoholic beverage each hour or playing a game of backyard cricket.”

Standard drink and liver function

The adult liver can only process one standard drink – 10g of pure alcohol – per hour.

“A standard drink of 12% wine is 100ml, a standard drink of 40% spirits is 30ml, and a standard drink for a 5% beer or cider is 255mL.”

If you’re drinking faster than one standard drink an hour, the excess alcohol enters your bloodstream while it waits for its turn to be processed by the liver. There’s a valve at the top of the liver, it shuts off once it’s got its 10g of pure alcohol.

“That excess alcohol over and above that 10g has got to go somewhere. It enters your bloodstream and then effectively goes on a tiki tour of your body.

“It will start impacting all of your other vital organs which use that same blood flow.”

The first stop on the tiki tour is the heart so your heart rate slows down and you feel nice and relaxed.

“Then if your liver is still maxed out, the next place on that tiki tour is going to be your brain.

“That’s when you start saying and doing things you wouldn’t normally do.

“The next place it’s going to go is your lungs and you’ll start getting boozy breath.

“That process basically continues endlessly until your liver has caught up and naturally, none of that is ideal for your own health and safety.”

Dealing with the social pressures around drinking

“First thing I would ask myself is – are they really a good mate if they are pressuring you to drink?” said Walter.

“Only you know how you feel when you have been drinking so don’t let anyone tell you you’re fine.

“We all feel the effects of alcohol differently so if you choose to drink, you need to make the decisions that are right for you on that day, at that time.

“It might be different on different days but #youdrinkyou.”

How many standard drinks are too many?

New Zealand health guidelines suggest that adult men should be having no more than 15 standard drinks a week. “That’s 15 standard drinks over the seven-day period and they should be having at least two alcohol-free days.

“Adult women should be having no more than 10 standard drinks in a week and should also be having two alcohol-free days.

“If you’re a man and you’re drinking more than 15 standard drinks in a week, or you’re a female drinking more than 10 standard drinks in a week, you would be classified as a heavy drinker.

“That’s when your risk of negative health impacts can increase dramatically.”

Walter said even though the health guidelines have suggestions, it may still be far too much alcohol for you. “You have to make the decisions that are right for you because we all feel the effects of alcohol differently.”

To find out more about making smarter drinking choices check out Alcohol&Me’s fun, interactive and highly informative online quizzes here.

For more information visit their website or their YouTube channel.