A DRINK diary will help people in Worcestershire keep track of how much alcohol they are drinking, say health experts.

People in Worcester are being urged to ‘rethink your drink’ during Alcohol Awareness Week, which began this week.

Worcestershire Drug and Alcohol Action Team – DAAT – and NHS Worcestershire are supporting the Government’s ‘Know Your Limits’ campaign, which is encouraging people across the country to take stock of how much they are drinking by keeping a drink diary for the week.

Worcestershire DAAT is also running an awareness campaign in gyms and helping their staff to give information to customers about safe drinking limits.

The chief medical officer recommends men do not drink more than three to four units daily (drinking about two pints or two cans of normal-strength lager or beer on a regular basis) and women do not drink more than two to three units daily (regularly drinking about a large glass of wine or three single measures of spirits). Drinking above these levels can increase your risk of heart disease, breast cancer, liver disease, stroke and other diseases.

Drinking above lower-risk guidelines can also impact on your ability to get a good night’s sleep and affect your general day-to-day health. Drinking too much also affects exercise performance, and contains calories. Richard Harling, Worcestershire’s director of public health, said: “Keeping a drink diary for a week is easy, and can really make you stop and think about whether you should cut back – and there’s no better time than Alcohol Awareness Week to give it a go.”