Binge drinking

Are you a binge drinker? Drinking a lot, quickly, or drinking to get drunk can have serious consequences for your short- and long-term health.

Binge drinking – having a lot of alcohol in a short space of time – can be extremely dangerous.¹ Our bodies can only process roughly one unit of alcohol an hour – and less for some people.²

By drinking a lot quickly, the amount of alcohol in your bloodstream can stop your body from working properly. This puts you at greater risk of accidents, alcohol poisoning, and other short- and long-term health issues.^3,4

But how much is a ‘binge’? And what do the experts recommend to reduce the harm alcohol can cause?

The UK Chief Medical Officers' (CMOs’) low risk drinking guidelines recommend it’s safest for both men and women to drink no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days with several drink-free days, and no bingeing.⁵

What is binge drinking?

The NHS defines binge drinking as ‘drinking heavily over a short space of time’.⁶ Another way of thinking about it is ‘drinking to get drunk’.

More than eight units of alcohol in a single session for men, or more than six units in a single session for women, is the technical definition.⁷ That’s equivalent to about four pints of normal strength beer for a man or three pints for a woman.^8,9

We know that the risks of short-term harms like accidents or injuries increase between two to five times as a result of drinking between five and seven units of alcohol in a single drinking session, compared with not drinking any alcohol at all.¹⁰

You become more vulnerable when you have been drinking. The sorts of things that are more likely to happen if you drink a lot in a short space of time include accidents resulting in injury, misjudging risky situations, or losing self-control. If you binge drink, you are likely to lose coordination, have impaired judgement, and slower reaction times.¹¹ Serious health risks from binge drinking include breathing problems, seizures, and brain damage.^12,13,14

Official advice

The Chief Medical Officers advise that to keep your short-term health risks from single occasion drinking low, you should:¹⁵

Limit the total amount of alcohol you drink on any single occasion
Drink more slowly, drink with food, and alternate your drinks with water
Plan ahead to avoid problems – for example by making sure you can get home safely or that you have people you trust with you

If you’re going out and think you’re going to drink, there are practical things you can do to keep your risk low:

Avoid drinking in rounds
Start drinking later
Consider limiting your alcohol intake to only drinking with meals
Replace an alcoholic drink with an alcohol-free one – there’s more choice than ever, with non-alcoholic beer, wine, and spirits available
Try setting yourself a drink or spending limit – rather than using debit or credit card, stop when your cash runs out
Never ‘pre-load’ with alcohol at home before going out to drink

Why is binge drinking dangerous?

Two large glasses of wine (250ml) may not seem like very much. But each large glass of wine contains more than three units of alcohol,¹⁶ so consuming several glasses in a short space of time could raise your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and make you drunk very quickly.

Drinking the same amount over several hours, as well as eating food during that time, will have less effect on your BAC. This is because food slows the rate at which alcohol is absorbed from the stomach into the small intestine, giving the body more time to metabolise the alcohol.

Globally, around 2.6 million deaths were caused by alcohol in 2019 and of these 700,000 deaths were from injuries.¹⁷

What are the effects of binge drinking?

Getting drunk can harm your physical and mental health:

Accidents and falls are common because being drunk affects your balance and co-ordination.^18,19 In extreme cases, you could die
Overdosing on alcohol can stop you breathing, stop your heart, or you could choke on your vomit²⁰
Binge drinking can affect your mood and memory²¹ and, in the longer term, can lead to serious mental health problems²² – with some evidence showing it is linked to suicide²³
There is evidence that binge drinking increases your risk of long-term health problems including becoming dependent on alcohol, alcohol-related cancer, and heart disease²⁴

Both men and women are at risk from alcohol poisoning, although women tend to have higher blood alcohol levels after drinking the same amount of alcohol as men, so may be at greater risk.²⁵

A study between 2021-2023 found that binge drinking among women aged 18 to 25 years old was higher than men in the same age group, however men in all other age groups continued to binge drink at higher rates.²⁶

A further study shows that men are at greater overall risk of short-term harm from alcohol (including from accidents and violence).²⁷

Acute alcohol poisoning is extremely dangerous. If you think someone might be experiencing alcohol poisoning, even if you have doubts, place them on their side in the recovery position and call 999 for an ambulance.

How to tell if you’re binge drinking?

Have you ever asked yourself, 'am I binge drinking?' Even if you don't drink alcohol every day, you could be a binge drinker if you:

Tend to drink quickly
Sometimes drink to get drunk

If you binge drink, you are putting your health at risk even if you’re drinking less than 14 units a week (as advised by the Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines).

If you find it hard to stop drinking once you have started, you could also have a problem with binge drinking and possibly alcohol dependence.

Drinking can make us act in ways we wouldn’t normally. Binge drinking can lead to anti-social, aggressive, and violent behaviour.²⁸

Find out more about alcohol and aggression.

Get help with binge drinking

If you’re worried about your drinking, a good place to start is by taking our free and confidential online Drinking Check.

Further advice and information

Arming yourself with strategies and tips can help you or a loved one take small steps towards big results.

The benefits of drinking less How to spot your triggers How to take a break and reset your tolerance Can alcohol affect sports performance and fitness levels?

Was this information helpful?

References

[1] Gowin J.L, Sloan M.E, Morris J.K, Schwandt M.L, Diazgranados N, Ramchandani V.A, Characteristics Associated With High-Intensity Binge Drinking in Alcohol Use Disorder. Front. Psychol., 20 October 2021 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.75039l

[2] NHS website. Alcohol units. (27 August 2024). [Accessed 21/7/25]. Available at: www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/calculating-alcohol-units/

[3] Department of Health. (2016). UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines. [Online]

[4] Gowin J.L, Sloan M.E, Morris J.K, Schwandt M.L, Diazgranados N, Ramchandani V.A, Characteristics Associated With High-Intensity Binge Drinking in Alcohol Use Disorder. Front. Psychol., 20 October 2021 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.75039l

[5] Department of Health. (2016). UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines. [Online]

[6] NHS website. Alcohol misuse. (4 October 2022). [Accessed 21/7/25]. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/alcohol-misuse/

[7] Department of Health & Social Care. (2021). Chapter 12: Alcohol. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/delivering-better-oral-health-an-evidence-based-toolkit-for-prevention/chapter-12-alcohol

[8] ONS. Adult drinking habits in Great Britain: 2017. (1 May 2018). [Accessed 21/7/25]. Available at: www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/drugusealcoholandsmoking/bulletins/opinionsandlifestylesurveyadultdrinkinghabitsingreatbritain/2017

[9] Drinkaware unit and calorie calculator. Available at: https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/tools/unit-and-calorie-calculator#/unit-and-calorie-calculator

[10] Department of Health. (2016). UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines. [Online]

[11] Blackwell, M., Valk, H., Eaton, J., Kovaly, S., Karnes, S., Vu, T., Stevenson, K., Kowalczyk, M., & Gormley, W. (2025). On-body Measure of Reaction Time Correlates with Intoxication Level (p. 2025.04.17.649358). bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.04.17.649358

[12] Simet SM, Sisson JH. Alcohol's Effects on Lung Health and Immunity. Alcohol Res (2015) 37(2):199–208 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26695745/

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[14] Topiwala, A., Ebmeier, K. P., Maullin-Sapey, T., & Nichols, T. E. (2022). Alcohol consumption and MRI markers of brain structure and function: Cohort study of 25,378 UK Biobank participants. NeuroImage: Clinical, 35, 103066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103066

[15] Department of Health. (2016). UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines. [Online]

[16] Drinkaware unit and calorie counter. Available at: https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/tools/unit-and-calorie-calculator/#/unit-and-calorie-calculator/singleDrinks

[17] World Health Organization. Alcohol. (28 June 2024). [Accessed 21/7/25]. Available at: www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/alcohol

[18] Gan, G., Guevara, A., Marxen, M., Neumann, M., Jünger, E., Kobiella, A., Mennigen, E., Pilhatsch, M., Schwarz, D., Zimmermann, U.S. and Smolka, M.N., 2014. Alcohol-induced impairment of inhibitory control is linked to attenuated brain responses in right fronto-temporal cortex. Biological psychiatry, 76(9), pp.698-707. Available at: biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(14)00015-8/abstract. [Accessed 23 February 2017].

[19] Taylor, B., Irving, H.M., Kanteres, F., Room, R., Borges, G., Cherpitel, C., Greenfield, T. and Rehm, J. (2010). The more you drink, the harder you fall: a systematic review and meta-analysis of how acute alcohol consumption and injury or collision risk increase together. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 110(1-2), 108-116.

[20] NHS website. Alcohol poisoning. (11 January 2023). [Accessed 21/7/25]. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/alcohol-poisoning/

[21] Neuropsychology. 2019 Sep;33(6):760-780. doi: 10.1037/neu0000557. Brain-behavior relations and effects of aging and common comorbidities in alcohol use disorder: A review. Sullivan EV1, Pfefferbaum A.

[22] Kim, Y., Kim, J., Oh, J. W., & Lee, S. (2024). Association between drinking behaviors, sleep duration, and depressive symptoms. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 5992. Kim, Y., Kim, J., Oh, J. W., & Lee, S. (2024). Association between drinking behaviors, sleep duration, and depressive symptoms. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 5992. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-56625-x

[23] Borges, G., Bagge, C. L., Cherpitel, C. J., Conner, K. R., Orozco, R., and Rossow, I. (2017). A meta-analysis of acute use of alcohol and the risk of suicide attempt. Psychological medicine, 47(5), 949-957.

[24] Gowin J.L, Sloan M.E, Morris J.K, Schwandt M.L, Diazgranados N, Ramchandani V.A, Characteristics Associated With High-Intensity Binge Drinking in Alcohol Use Disorder. Front. Psychol., 20 October 2021 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.75039l

[25] White A. M. (2020). Gender Differences in the Epidemiology of Alcohol Use and Related Harms in the United States. Alcohol research : current reviews, 40(2), 01. https://doi.org/10.35946/arcr.v40.2.01

[26] JAMA Published Online: April 16, 2025 2025;333;(20):1831-1833. doi:10.1001/jama.2025.2726

[27] Holmes, J., Angus, C., Buykx, P., Ally, A., Stone, T., Meier, P., & Brennan, A. 2016. Mortality and morbidity risks from alcohol consumption in the UK: analyses using the Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model (v. 2.7) to inform the UK Chief Medical Officers’ review of the UK lower risk drinking guidelines. Sheffield: ScHARR, University of Sheffield.

[28] Fritz, M., Soravia, S.-M., Dudeck, M., Malli, L., & Fakhoury, M. (2023). Neurobiology of Aggression—Review of Recent Findings and Relationship with Alcohol and Trauma. Biology, 12(3), 469. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12030469

Last Reviewed: 8th April 2026

Next Review due: 8th April 2029

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