The most significant change has been a reduction in the number of units it is recommending men do not exceed from 21 to 14, in line with the recommendations for women.

The government now recommend the following:

• men and women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week
• they advise 'if you do drink as much as 14 units per week, it is best to spread this evenly over 3 days or more'
• pregnant women should not drink. The wording of the official advice is 'If you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all, to keep risks to your baby to a minimum. Drinking in pregnancy can lead to long-term harm to the baby, with the more you drink the greater the risk.'

One unit of alcohol is equal to 10 mL of pure ethanol. The 'strength' of an alcoholic drink is determined by the 'alcohol by volume' (ABV).

Examples of one unit of alcohol:

• 25ml single measure of spirits (ABV 40%)
• a third of a pint of beer (ABV 5 to 6%)
• half a 175ml 'standard' glass of red wine (ABV 12%)

To calculate the number of units in a drink multiply the number of millilitres by the ABV and divide by 1,000. For example:

• half a 175ml 'standard' glass of red wine = 87.5 * 12 / 1000 = 1.05 units
• one bottle of wine = 750 * 12 / 1000 = 9 units
• one pint of 5% beer or lager = 568 * 5 / 1000 = 2.8 units