What counts as 'high intensity drinking' as researchers says it's worse than bingeing
Warning: This article contains discussion of alcoholism which some readers may find distressing.
Binge drinking is a wholly unhealthy and rather dangerous activity that many people unfortunately partake in, but there's another tier of tipsy terribleness which is even worse that's known as 'high intensity drinking'.
In the most basic sense, high intensity drinking is binge drinking on steroids, and it's the sort of thing that people will do for major events like milestone birthdays, holidays and big sporting events.
Researchers published a study in the National Library of Medicine and their High-Intensity Drinking report defines it as being ‘at least twice the typical binge drinking threshold’.
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According to the Butler Center for Research, the binge drinking threshold is four drinks for women and five for men.
Doubling that gets you eight drinks for women and 10 for men in one session to enter high intensity drinking territory.
They warned that despite 'modest decreases' in binge drinking there were new concerns about a rise of high intensity drinking.
When it comes to alcohol, the experts say the best way to consume it is in moderation, and this certainly does not involve quaffing more than a week's worth of recommended alcohol intake in one session.
As well as the amount of drinks consumed, high intensity drinking also involves a person's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) reaching 0.2 percent or higher which means there'd be 20mg of alcohol in 100ml of your blood.
For reference, the drink drive limit in the UK, excluding Scotland, is 0.08 percent, while in many other countries (including Scotland) it's 0.05 percent.
Alcohol.org warns that at this point a person has gone well beyond the drink-drive limit and their speech will be slurred, their movement impaired and their mind struggling to respond quickly.
"Confusion, feeling dazed, and disorientation are common," they explained of the symptoms someone will experience after partaking in high intensity drinking.
"Sensations of pain will change, so if you fall and seriously hurt yourself, you may not notice, and you are less likely to do anything about it.
"Nausea and vomiting are likely to occur, and the gag reflex will be impaired, which could cause choking or aspirating on vomit. Blackouts begin at this BAC, so you may participate in events that you don’t remember."
While reaching this point is already pretty dangerous since you might not even notice being in pain and could choke on your own vomit, continuing to drink further means 'your potential for death increases'.
So remember, it's best not to get through eight to 10 drinks in one session under any circumstances. Pace yourself.
Please drink responsibly. If you want to discuss any issues relating to alcohol in confidence, contact Drinkline on 0300 123 1110, 9am–8pm weekdays and 11am–4pm weekends for advice and support.
Joe Harker