It’s a Lot Easier to Binge Drink Than You May Think. Here’s Why

• A drinking “binge” is more than five drinks within a two-hour period for men or four drinks in a two-hour period for women.
• A standard drink is 0.6 fluid ounces of pure alcohol.
• Many drinks at restaurants and bars contain more than the standard 0.6 oz. of alcohol per serving because of the different ingredients they contain and the size of the glasses in which they are served.
• To be considered low risk for alcohol use disorder, men shouldn’t have more than four drinks in a single day and no more than 14 drinks per week. Women shouldn’t drink more than three drinks per day and seven drinks per week.

It’s the weekend, and you’re having a night out with friends. You’re having a good time but being responsible by keeping track of your drinks so as not to overindulge.

Yet, despite your efforts, there’s a good chance that you could end up binge drinking without even knowing it.

A drinking “binge” is definedTrusted Source by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as five or more drinks within a two-hour period for men and four drinks in a two-hour period for women.

That guideline may seem clear, but in actuality, it can be a lot harder than it seems to get a clear picture of how much you’re drinking.

That’s because even when you’re tracking your drinks, those drinks may have more alcohol in them than you’d expect.

“A pour of a drink is significantly greater than the cutoffs that are identified as a standard volume for drinks,” said Dr. Harshal Kirane, medical director of Wellbridge Addiction Treatment and Research in Calverton, New York.

“In a typical context, someone’s already consuming probably 1.5 to two drinks when they may think they are only consuming one drink,” he said.

Part of the NIH’s new strategy to inform Americans about binge drinking — which they’ve rolled out in a new website called Rethinking Your Drinking — is to help them clearly understand their drinking behavior in as objective a manner as possible.

It’s a task that may sound simple, but it can actually be difficult for many people when they’re at a bar or in other social situations where alcohol is present.

“There are so many potential variables that can distort [the quantity of alcohol in a drink]. Unless the individual is making the drink themselves or measuring out these quantities, these ratios could vary significantly,” Kirane said.

So, exactly how much alcohol is there in a drink?

A standard drink is defined as 0.6 fluid ounces, or 14 grams, of pure alcohol. Generally, this works out to be one:

• 12-oz. beer (5 percent alcohol)
• 5-oz. glass of wine (12 percent alcohol)
• 1.5-oz. shot of hard liquor (80 proof/40 percent alcohol)

Assessing your alcohol intake gets more difficult if you like cocktails or other mixed drinks.

Using the NIH’s cocktail calculator, you may be surprised to see that many cocktails contain more alcohol than a standard drink.

A mojito is actually closer to 1.3 drinks; a gin and tonic, 1.6 drinks.

For drinks traditionally served in larger glasses, you’re definitely getting more than one standard drink.

A margarita is closer to 1.7 standard drinks. A piña colada can pack the equivalent of two drinks in one.

“There are a lot of people who don’t realize that a cocktail could be more than one drink, because there are multiple kinds of alcohol put in it or the amounts are more than a shot or a glass of wine would be,” said Dr. Casia Horseman, a psychiatrist at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

The size of your drink also matters.

A pint of beer, which is a common serving in a bar or restaurant, is actually 16 oz., or about 1.3 drinks.

So, keep in mind what a standard drink is, and be aware that the size of your glass could be deceptive in how much alcohol you’re consuming.