Page "Unit of alcohol" Paragraph 25

Previously ( from 1992 until 1995 ), the advice was that men should drink no more than 21 units per week, and women no more than 14.

( The difference between the sexes was due to the typically lower weight and water-to-body-mass ratio of women.

) This was changed because a government study showed that many people were in effect " saving up " their units and using them at the end of the week, a phenomenon referred to as binge drinking.

The Times reported in October 2007 that these limits had been " plucked out of the air " and had no scientific basis.