Responsible Drinking

Bentley's mobile bar wants you to have a good time and enjoy alcohol. We do however want to promote and encourage "responsible drinking" and the following information might just help you to do that.

Facts About Alcohol

Drinking alcohol is part of our national culture and so it's easy for us to feel that we know all about it – but how much of what we know is based in fact and how much is just a myth?

Did you know for example that alcohol shrinks your brain and that’s what causes the dehydration in your thumping headache the morning after a hard night? Or that as many as 33,000 people in the UK die from alcohol related causes each year- that’s ten times as many people as die on the roads every year. Or that up to one in three adults is at risk from alcohol-related liver disease

We don't want to put you off drinking, you can make your own minds up about how much and how often you drink but its important to know what alcohol can do to you.

Visit DRINK AWARE for detailed information and facts about alcohol >>

How to keep a good time good.

Nothing beats a night out with friends. Follow a few simple tips to make sure your next good time doesn't take a turn for the worse. Getting into the right frame of mind is often the key to a great night out, and a little alcohol can help – just be careful not to push things too far and set yourself some limits and stick to them.

For a lot of us, a couple of drinks can help create a good time feeling. One drink too many and it can easily tip over into drunken arguments, embarrassing behaviour and throwing up in the toilets.

Know your limits

Alcohol affects everyone differently. Some people can drink a couple of pints with no apparent ill effects, while others start acting embarrassingly after one vodka. Look out for your own warning signals and recognise when enough is enough.

Government health experts advise that you shouldn’t drink more than 3-4 units a day if you’re a man, and 2-3 units if you’re a woman. Drinking twice that much is classified as binge drinking.

Tips for keeping a good time good

• Don’t make drinking the focus of the night
• If you are drinking alcohol, eat something as well
• Pace yourself
• Have a free pint … of water!
• Don’t mix your drinks

Visit DRINK AWARE for detailed information and facts about alcohol >>

The importance of looking after your mates

One for all and all for one: stick together on a night out and you’ll have a great time.

There's more to a good night out than drinking. And there’s more to being a good friend on a night out than slurring in someone’s ear that you really love them and they’re your beshtesht mate in the whole world. Drinking alcohol can make people to do stupid things, and sometimes get into unpleasant or dangerous situations. By looking out for each other, you and your mates can make sure the good times don’t turn bad.

Many of us have  seen our friends the worse for wear after a heavy night’s drinking. But sometimes the consequences are more serious than sore heads and texts to the wrong people.

Hundreds of young people end up in hospital every week because of booze: nearly half  of people admitted to A&E have alcohol-related injuries or illnesses.  Alcohol-fuelled violence is common late at night in town centres –in nearly half  of all violent incidents, victims believed offenders to be under the influence of alcohol. 

If you and your friends are out on the pull, it’s not just "beer goggles" clouding your judgement that you need to worry about. People who are drinking are much more likely to have unprotected sex, leading to unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

Of course, in the main, nights out pass without (negative) incident and a good time is had by all. And by removing the exacerbating effects of excessive alcohol consumption you stand a much better chance of you and your mates having a night you will all want to remember.

Visit DRINK AWARE for tips about looking after your mates >>

How to avoid a painful morning after

There are steps you can take to reduce the risk of getting drunk, protect your health and keep that hangover away.

Your head's banging and your mouth feels like it has been lined with cheap carpet. Even your skin seems to be objecting to last night's excess. Hangovers hurt. The only guaranteed way to avoid a hangover is not to drink alcohol. The next best thing (and almost guaranteed to work) is to stay within the sensible daily drinking guidelines. If however the allure of another night out gets too much, there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of getting drunk, protect your health and keep that hangover away.

Think about setting yourself a limit as to how much you are going to drink before you go out – and stick to it. The UK Government advises that men should not regularly drink more than three to four units a day and women not more than two to three. It's the strength and size of a drink that determines how many units it has. For example, a small glass of Chardonnay is one and half units and an average pint of larger just under two and a half units.

If you know you're going to be drinking alcohol, make sure you eat before you go out, preferably a substantial meal. Complex carbohydrates such as pasta and bread are good because they take longer to digest. This means any alcohol you drink will also take longer to be absorbed from your stomach into your bloodstream.

Drink plenty of water and or soft drinks before you go out, during your night out, and when you get home. Alcohol acts as a diuretic, which means your body retains less water. When this happens your body loses water, including your brain, which causes it to shrink. And that's one of the main reasons why your head hurts the next day.

Avoid getting into rounds because it makes it harder to control how much you drink.

Drink plenty of water or fruit juice between alcoholic drinks, or opt for shandies and spritzers. However, be aware that the alcohol in carbonated drinks (such as beer) is absorbed faster than in non-carbonated ones, so it has its effect more rapidly.

Try not to mix your drinks. You're only adding to the number of toxins your body has to deal with.

Avoid being tempted by double measures of spirits just because they are cheap. Opt for a small rather than large glass of wine – a large one can contain up to three units of alcohol.

If you are drinking alcohol at home, keep an eye on how much you’re pouring. Pub measures of shots are 25ml. This doesn’t look like much in a glass so you’re likely to serve yourself much more at home. Avoid ‘topping up’ your glass before you’ve finished as this makes it difficult to see how much you have drunk.

Your body takes about one hour to process each unit of alcohol. Watch your units and consider stopping drinking well before the end of the evening, so the process can begin.

Try and get as much sleep as possible. Alcohol affects the quality of the sleep we get and hangovers often feel worse because we're tired.

Your instinct might be to reach for the painkillers. These may ease headaches, but will do nothing for the alcohol in your system. Some (like paracetamol) also give your liver even more work to do, and others (like aspirin) can irritate your stomach.

And of course, make sure you drink plenty of water and soft drinks to help battle the effects of dehydration.

Visit DRINK AWARE for detailed information and facts about alcohol >>