THE GOOD DRINKER by Steve Murphy

Broadcaster Adrian Chiles liked a drink: it was a way of life. When specialists diagnosed liver damage he realised he had to reassess his relationship with alcohol. But he didn’t want to go teetotal.

His new book The Good Drinker – How I Learned to Love Drinking Less is a manual for anyone wanting to stop the heavy stuff and drink sensibly.

Chiles wrote it to fill a gap in information on drinking in moderation after a lifetime of consuming up to 14 units – the governments weekly alcohol guidelines – in one day.

Were the signs ignored? No says Chiles, they weren’t there.

He told BBC’s Tina Daheley, “Drinkers like me often end up in trouble precisely because we don’t display many of the obvious side effects of heavy drinking, such as terrible hangovers, florid complexions, huge beer bellies and so on. We can fly under our own radar, which is generally a risky way to proceed.”

He was downing the equivalent of 10 bottles of wine, 34 pints or two and a half bottles of whiskey every week.

“I asked myself how many of those drinks did I want or enjoy and the answer is probably about a third – the rest was just drinking pointlessly. Drinking because I was out. Drinking because I couldn’t think of anything else to do. Drinking because there’s half a bottle of wine in the fridge. Just drinking out of habit and that was taking its toll.”

The book details how to plan ahead and choose what days and times you’re going to drink. “I value what I do drink a bit more”, he says.

Counting what you drink he says, is boring but essential.

I asked myself how many of those drinks did I want or enjoy?

“I use the drinklessalcohol app. That way I can work out which of those drinks did I enjoy, which one did I need? Don’t torture yourself with it, don’t shame yourself but just do it”.

He now drinks between 20 and 25 units a week, he says. “That’s still too much... but it’s a dramatic start. And if I can do it anyone can”.

The Good Drinker – How I Learned to Love Drinking Less by Adrian Chiles, is published by Profile Books and is available now in hardback or ebook.

Find out MORE AT:

The NHS has some simple tips and tools to help you start cutting down today. Go to: nhs.uk/better-health/drink-less

The Drink Less Alcohol App is free to download and use. Go to: drinklessalcohol.com

• Help yourself –our self help guide on alcohol and you can be read online, downloaded or watched as a video. merseycare.nhs.uk