⭐ Mindrink Methodology: How We Define Alcohol Limits, Units, and Risk Levels

Mindrink uses colours to help you quickly interpret your drinking patterns:

• 🟦 Blue — Within guideline
  You are within your selected limit (Strict, Balanced, Relaxed).
• 🟣 Purple — Above guideline, but not high risk
  You exceeded your daily or weekly guideline,
  but have not reached binge or high-week levels.
• 🔴 Red — High risk
  Binge drinking which is harmfull for health

Colours are a simple interpretation layer — not a medical diagnosis.

A. Values Taken Directly From Official Public-Health Sources

These are the guideline components Mindrink uses exactly as published, with one harmonisation step:
everything is converted into Mindrink units = 10 g ethanol so different national systems can be compared directly.

Below are the original values, the logical conversions, and why each source is part of Mindrink's model.

1. Strict level — Canada (CCSA 2023)

Source: Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (2023)

Canada does not present a single "safe limit."
Instead, it defines risk bands based on burden-of-disease modelling:

• 0–2 drinks/week → Low risk
• 3–6 drinks/week → Moderate risk
• 7+ drinks/week → Increasingly high risk

Canada defines a standard drink as:

13.45 g ethanol

Conversion to Mindrink units

Low-risk band (0–2 drinks/week):
2 × 13.45 g = 26.9 g → 2.7 units

Moderate-risk band (3–6 drinks/week):
3 drinks = 40.35 g → 4.0 units
6 drinks = 80.7 g → 8.0 units

So Canada's modelling translates into:

• Low risk: ~0–2.7 units
• Moderate risk: ~4–8 units
• Higher risk: >8 units/week

How Mindrink uses this

Canada's guideline is the most conservative internationally.
To create a practical but scientifically grounded strict tier, Mindrink sets:

Strict weekly limit = ≤ 5 units/week

5 units/week:

• Sits near the lower part of Canada's moderate band
• Is far below Australia's 10/week and Ireland's 17/11
• Represents a very low exposure level users can realistically track

Why included

• It is the most rigorous contemporary guideline
• It provides a risk curve rather than a rigid limit
• It anchors Mindrink's "Strict" tier in modern epidemiological evidence

2. Balanced level — Australia (NHMRC 2020)

Source: National Health and Medical Research Council (2020)

Australia gives a clear, easily interpretable guideline:

• ≤ 10 standard drinks per week
• ≤ 4 standard drinks on any single day

An Australian standard drink is defined as:

10 g ethanol

Conversion to Mindrink units

Direct mapping:

• 10 drinks/week → 10 units/week
• 4 drinks/day → 4 units/day

Why included

• Provides both daily and weekly caps
• Already uses 10 g drinks, identical to Mindrink units
• Forms the structural backbone of the Balanced tier

3. Relaxed level — Ireland HSE

Source: HSE Low-Risk Drinking Guidelines

Ireland provides higher, sex-specific weekly limits:

• Men: ≤ 17 standard drinks/week
• Women: ≤ 11 standard drinks/week

Ireland defines:

1 standard drink = 10 g ethanol

Conversion to Mindrink units

• Men: 17 × 10 g = 17 units/week
• Women: 11 × 10 g = 11 units/week

Why included

• Offers a more permissive option for users seeking flexible guidance
• Completes a clear 3-tier model (Strict → Balanced → Relaxed)
• Matches the global 10 g standard drink convention

4. Binge definitions — NIAAA (USA) & WHO

NIAAA (USA) binge criteria

• Women: ≥ 4 US drinks in ~2 hours
• Men: ≥ 5 US drinks in ~2 hours

US drink = 14 g ethanol

Conversions:

• Women: 4 × 14 g = 56 g → 5.6 units
• Men: 5 × 14 g = 70 g → 7 units

Rounded Mindrink thresholds:

• Women: ≥ 6 units/day
• Men: ≥ 7 units/day

WHO heavy episodic drinking (HED)

≥ 60 g ethanol in one occasion
→ 6 units

Why included

Both NIAAA and WHO align around ~60–70 g as the level where acute harms sharply increase
(injuries, poisoning, arrhythmia, self-harm, violence, falls).

These values define the Mindrink red zone for single-day consumption.

Mindrink's limits are guidance tools, not rules to follow perfectly.

Health guidelines describe risk ranges, not personal obligations.
Real life is more complex than weekly numbers:
some days are social, some stressful, some celebratory, some quiet.
Patterns shift over months and years. That's normal.

Mindrink is built on a simple principle:

The value isn't in being perfect.
The value is in being aware.

What matters is not hitting every target, but understanding your relationship with alcohol over time:

• noticing when your consumption rises or falls
• recognising situations that increase drinking
• seeing how alcohol affects sleep, energy, or mood
• making choices that fit your own goals, not someone else's

Mindrink never labels you, never shames you, and never treats limits as moral boundaries.

Our philosophy is straightforward:

Guidance, not guilt.

Awareness, not judgment.

You decide what "healthy" looks like for your life.

We provide the numbers so you can make informed decisions —
not so the numbers can make decisions for you.