‘Stay off alcohol 2 days a week’

DRINKERS should give themselves two alcohol-free days a week, a committee of British MPs said.

The Commons’ Science and Technology Committee believed abstaining from alcohol at least twice a week would help people’s health.

Revealing their findings, the MPs also demanded a review of sensible drinking guidelines amid fears they are unclear. “Sensible” drinking limits were defined 25 years ago as 21 units of alcohol a week for men and 14 for women.

But new evidence in the 1990s claiming drinking could help prevent heart disease prompted ministers to advise daily limits of up to four units a day for men and three for women.

The Royal College of Physicians’ special adviser on alcohol, Ian Gilmore, echoed calls for a review of guidelines and demanded a minimum price for alcohol.

He said: “There is an increased risk of liver disease for those who drink daily or near-daily.”