Avoid alcohol three days a week: study

London: Here’s an advice for drinkers — avoid alcohol at least three days a week, say doctors. According to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), drinkers should have three days a week off alcohol to avoid slipping into a cycle of binge drinking and risking liver disease, The Daily Telegraph reported. [caption id=“attachment_114722” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Urging people to restrict their drinking to four days a week, the doctors recommend introducing lower limits for elderly people. Reuters”]  [/caption] Drinking alcohol every day causes a “significant health risk”, doctors warned, increasing the chances of developing liver disease and other life-threatening illnesses. “People should have two to three alcohol-free days every week to reduce the risks of long term damage from binge drinking, including liver disease,” a spokesman for the RCP was quoted as saying. “After a day of drinking, there is a need for time to recover and that is why we need rest days in between our alcohol consumption,” he said, adding that younger drinkers are particularly at risk. Urging people to restrict their drinking to four days a week, the doctors recommend introducing lower limits for elderly people, as their bodies are more likely to suffer lasting effects from alcohol. Prof Sir Ian Gilmore, special adviser on alcohol at the RCP, said Britain’s binge drinking culture was creating a “tide of harm” in hospitals across the country. “We recommend a safe limit of 0 to 21 units a week for men and 0 to 14 units a week for women, provided the total amount is not drunk in one or two bouts and that there are two or three alcohol-free days a week. At these levels, most individuals are unlikely to come to harm,” he said. PTI