I'M A LIVER DOCTOR – HERE'S WHAT DRINKING A GLASS OF WINE AFTER WORK EVERY DAY IS DOING TO YOUR HEALTH
There’s nothing like a 7pm glass of wine to mark the end of a long day. Whether it’s popping open a bottle on your return home or having a quick one with your colleagues in the pub, alcohol – and wine in particular – is a powerful tool that many women turn to for unwinding and transitioning between work and home. Many of us will have grown up with parents who reached for the chablis the moment they got home, and unless you’re part of the groundswell of Gen Z and zillennials who’ve chosen to go teetotal, you might have dabbled in the habit too.
In recent times, however, we’ve been bombarded with worrying headlines around liver scarring and long-term complaints as a result of regular drinking. So, just how safe is our nightly glass or two of wine? And if you’re currently attempting Dry January, is it something you should try to stay away from longer term? To find out more, we’ve been talking to liver specialists and therapists.
Is a nightly glass of wine bad for us?
The answer’s slightly more complicated than a straightforward ‘yes’ or ‘no’, says Dr Jeremy Cobbold, consultant hepatologist and gastroenterologist at Nuffield Health Manor Hospital. He says that while no level of alcohol consumption is completely risk free, the risk is low if you stick to 14 units or less a week. That works out at around 1.5 bottles of wine spread over seven days or one small (150ml) glass of wine a day. “The risks of drinking increase with increasing amounts consumed, but differ from person-to-person based on genetics, body size and composition, and other medical conditions or medications,” he explains.
Sharing a bottle of wine with your partner or housemate, for example, could mean having two medium (175ml) glasses of wine (just under five units) each. Done nightly, that takes you to 30-35 units a week, which is “more than double the government’s recommended guidelines and on the threshold of what is considered ‘harmful’ for women”, says Dr Cobbold.
Two medium glasses every night is considered ‘harmful’
How regular drinking impacts different parts of the body
The liver
Responsible for detoxification in the body, the liver is great at self-repair and regeneration. However, drinking over the recommended levels in the long term, and you could be at risk of a fatty liver, says Dr Cobbold, which can lead to inflammation and scarring.
The brain
Last week, a study was published that found heavy drinkers were 133% more likely to develop brain injury than non-drinkers. ‘Heavy’ was defined as having just eight or more alcoholic drinks per week. It is worth flagging that the brain does have the capacity for self-repair and we’ve spoken to experts before who believe that it can recover from previous bouts of binge drinking if it’s given the chance, but Dr Cobbold still says that “even modestly elevated alcohol intake increases the risk of anxiety and depression, reduces sleep quality and increases fatigue and poor concentration”.
The cardiovascular system
For years, we were told that red wine was actively good for our heart health, and a 2024 paper published by the European Heart Journal confirmed this. It found that drinking up to one glass of wine a day lowers the risk of serious cardiovascular disease in people at higher risk who also follow a Mediterranean diet high in olive oil, plants and fish and low on processed foods. However, that protective effect was found to disappear in people who drank more than one glass a day.
Dr Cobbold warns that drinking over that limit can raise blood pressure, increase the risk of stroke, cause irregular heartbeat and potentially affect the heart muscle.
The gut
Struggling with issues such as heartburn, acid reflux, bloating or stomach upsets? Dr Cobbold urges you to assess whether alcohol exacerbates those symptoms. “It’s a laxative and an irritant. A few weeks off alcohol will help you determine whether it could be contributing to your gut issues.”
Cancer risk
Dr Yiannis Kallis, consultant hepatologist and gastroenterologist at Nuffield Health at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, says that alcohol is the main risk factor for pancreatic damage, as well as playing a role in obesity-related diseases. It’s also considered a risk factor in breast cancer, warns Dr Cobbold.
Is it better to drink a glass of wine daily or more less frequently?
Guidelines suggest that it’s better to spread the load rather than save all your units for a blow-out on Friday night, but Dr Kallis believes that there’s not really a huge difference between the two. “The most important factor is the overall amount you’re drinking. If you’re occasionally having isolated days when you drink more, that’s unlikely to cause any major health consequences as long as it’s a sporadic and not a regular occurrence.” Dr Cobbold favours spreading your intake and scheduling in a couple of alcohol-free days to “allow your body to reset and recover”.
Alcohol and stress relief – is it really that effective?
Of course, drinking is far more of a mental and emotional habit than a physical one. That post-work glass of Miravel is as much about unwinding from the day, pressing pause on deadline anxiety and disconnecting from stress as it is enjoying something cold, fruity and slightly acidic.
Sana Khwaja is a therapist at BetterHelp, and she says that although it’s totally normal to enjoy a glass or two as a way to unwind from the pressures of the day, “even low-level, consistent alcohol consumption can have subtle cumulative effects”. Alcohol is a depressant, which can potentially exacerbate symptoms of anxiety and depression in some people. Relying on booze for stress management can also stop you from developing healthier coping strategies, she says.
In the short term, alcohol does make us feel more relaxed. “That’s because it affects the brain’s chemistry, releasing neurotransmitters like dopamine, which may create feelings of pleasure and relaxation,” Khwaja explains. However, as your body metabolises that alcohol, those heady feelings can be replaced with fatigue, irritability and even mild withdrawal effects – and those symptoms can create more stress. “The more you rely on alcohol to manage stress, the harder it can become to break that cycle, potentially leading to dependency.”
As you metabolise wine, fatigue sets in
How much alcohol will make you feel relaxed without tipping you into stress or sleep disruption varies from person to person, so it’s all about finding your limit. Once you exceed that, the relaxation effects are going to plateau and diminish.
Is there a ‘healthy’ way to enjoy alcohol?
It looks like a nightly (small) glass of wine is relatively safe, but how might we ensure that a habit stays on the ‘healthy’ side of things? Dr Cobbold acknowledges that while 14 units a week should be the limit, people regularly exceed that amount – including medics and medical students. So, to counterbalance the habit, he recommends the following six tips:
- Know your limits: a bottle of wine is around 10 units, a large glass of wine is over three.
- Think about non-alcoholic alternatives. Can you have nights when you only drink those or have them interspersed with alcoholic drinks?
- Drink with dinner. “Drinking with food is probably better than on an empty stomach,” he suggests. “Aim to eat a healthy, balanced diet with plenty of vegetables, lean protein and wholegrains, and try to limit the ultra-processed snacks that are so tempting at the end of the night.”
- Take plenty of exercise – and stay hydrated.
- Be aware of obesity risks. High body fat can accelerate alcohol-related harms.
- Get your liver checked. “Liver disease can progress silently, so if you’re concerned that you have been drinking too much over time, it’s worth getting your liver checked out with a Fibroscan,” he suggests. “That’s a simple, quick, non-invasive way to measure liver stiffness and detect evidence of significant liver damage.”
How to reduce stress after work without a drink
From a mental health point of view, there are also things you can do to promote relaxation that lasts longer than a glass of wine. Therapy is an option, while Khwaja also recommends being engrossed in an activity that’s completely unrelated to work. That might mean learning a new language or instrument, or in her case, playing a competitive game. “This forces a cognitive shift, preventing emotional residue from client sessions from lingering and impacting my personal life.”
She’s also a big fan of exercise for “releasing the emotional and cognitive load”. Lastly, she likes to shake out her arms and legs before submerging her hands in cold water to signal a physiological shift. “These somatic practices help me transition out of the therapeutic headspace and reset my nervous system.”
Images: Adobe; Getty
2026-01-09T14:18:14Z
