How do you know if you drink too much?

Your weekly dose of evidence

February is over and for the 40,000 or so people who gave up alcohol for the month, you can now enjoy a guilt-free glass of wine. The Australian guidelines recommend women and men consume no more than two standard alcoholic drinks per day. But what if you drink more? How do you know if you have a problem? Alcohol researcher and psychologist Nicole Lee outlines the signs to look for, and how to go about cutting back.

Fron Jackson-Webb

Deputy Editor/Senior Health + Medicine Editor

Australia’s alcohol guidelines recommend women and men drink no more than two standard drinks per day. Kelsey Chance

Did you look forward to last night’s bottle of wine a bit too much? Ladies, you’re not alone

Nicole Lee, Curtin University

When it comes to drinking at risky levels, women are catching up to men. Problem is, women start to have alcohol-related problems sooner and at lower drinking levels than men.

There’s a reason we apologise to our livers after a big night, and it’s not pretty. Wes Mountain/The Conversation

Drink, drank, drunk: what happens when we drink alcohol in four short videos

Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation; Wes Mountain, The Conversation

What is it that makes us feel drunk when we drink? And why do we keep drinking if it can make us feel so terrible?

From the archives: alcohol

Four ways alcohol is bad for your health

Steve Allsop, Curtin University; Eveline Lensvelt, Curtin University; Tanya Chikritzhs, Curtin University

The growing list of alcohol-related diseases includes bowel cancers, mouth and oesophageal cancers, breast cancers, heart disease, respiratory infections and mental health problems.

Women’s alcohol consumption catching up to men: why this matters

Tim Slade, UNSW; Cath Chapman, UNSW; Maree Teesson, UNSW

Women are catching up to men in rates of alcohol consumption and this has important implications for how we think about our community response to harmful alcohol use.

Health Check: does drinking alcohol kill the germs it comes into contact with?

Vincent Ho, Western Sydney University

Wine has long been known for its disinfecting and cleansing properties. So can it kill flu and other bugs? And what about other types of alcohol?

What’s the most value for money way to tackle obesity? Increase taxes on alcohol

Jaithri Ananthapavan, Deakin University; Gary Sacks, Deakin University; Vicki Brown, Deakin University

It may not be popular, but an increase in the cost of alcohol would make us drink less and consume fewer kilojoules.

Expert answers to serious, weird and wacky questions

We’re having less sex than we used to. Toa Heftiba

Health Check: how often do people have sex?

John Malouff, University of New England

Australians report having sex once or twice a week, on average, but there are many variables. And that's assuming people's estimates are accurate.

Your tummy is a juicy rollercoaster ride for food! Flickr/Stuart Richards

Curious Kids: how does my tummy turn food into poo?

Vincent Ho, Western Sydney University

Your stomach works very hard with some other body parts to break down food into small pieces. Your body takes in what it needs and the rest is turned into poo.

Top picks from the week

Semi-identical twins share all the DNA passed on from their mother, but only a portion from their father. From shutterstock.com

Same same but different: when identical twins are non-identical

Hannah Brown, University of Adelaide

Semi-identical or sesquizygotic twins occur when two sperm fertilise one egg. A boy and a girl in Brisbane are only the second set of semi-identical twins known in the world.