GUIDELINES
Moderation Management
MODERATION MANAGEMENT ™ GUIDELINES & LIMITS
What Does Moderate Drinking Mean?
Moderate drinking isn’t about following someone else’s rules—it’s about finding a level of alcohol use that supports your health, relationships, and the life you want to live. For most people, that means staying within clear, intentional limits rather than drinking impulsively or excessively.
A standard drink is the foundation for tracking moderation. One standard drink equals:
- 12 ounces of regular beer (5% alcohol)
- 5 ounces of table wine (12% alcohol)
- 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits (40% alcohol)
Understanding what counts as a standard drink helps you make informed choices, set realistic goals, and build drinking habits that remain intentional instead of automatic.
Moderate Drinking Guidelines and Limits:
For Men:
No more than 14 drinks per week, and not more than 4 per occasion.
For Women:
No more than 9 drinks per week, and not more than 3 per occasion.
For Both Men & Women:
Do not drink on more than 3-4 days per week.
When Do These Limits Work?
Research has shown that these moderate drinking guidelines and limits are generally workable for persons who have learned to moderate after experiencing drinking problems.
US government’s National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
These limits are mostly the same as those set forth by the US government’s National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. However, NIAAA gives a similar but slightly lower weekly limit for women of 7 drinks per week (with the same 3 per occasion), so women might consider adopting that lower weekly limit.
BAC Limits
Even if we don’t drink and drive, and we know you won’t, an elevated BAC can have other damaging and painful results.
When Is Your BAC Level is Too High?
What level of BAC makes us think we’re John Travolta on the dance floor? Is it the same level that has us sending “I love you, I really love you!” texts to our old high school flame at 4 a.m.?
(Our partner, Checkup and Choices, has a great BAC Levels and their Detailed Effects table).
BAC plays a very important role in maintaining moderate drinking levels, too. How much do we have to drink in what period of time to go from in control to “Just one more.” to “I deserve a break from all this planning and counting and timing”—to regret?
Download the PDF BAC limits for men and women below
What Is a Moderate Drinker
When you have made the healthy decision to drink less, and you stay within moderate limits, you should not experience any health, personal, family, social, job-related, financial, or legal problems due to alcohol. The suggested guidelines below allow for a degree of individual interpretation, because moderation is a flexible principle and is not the same for everyone. The suggested limits, however, are more definite.
A Moderate Drinker:
- considers an occasional drink to be a small, though enjoyable, part of life.
- has hobbies, interests, and other ways to relax and enjoy life that do not involve alcohol.
- usually has friends who are moderate drinkers or nondrinkers.
- generally has something to eat before, during, or soon after drinking.
- usually does not drink for longer than an hour or two on any particular occasion.
- usually does not drink faster than one drink per half-hour.
- usually does not exceed the .055% BAC moderate drinking limit. (see Note 1 below)
- feels comfortable with his or her use of alcohol (never drinks secretly and does not spend a lot of time thinking about drinking or planning to drink).
The MM Limits:
- Strictly obey local laws regarding drinking and driving.
- Do not drink in situations that would endanger yourself or others.
- Do not drink every day. MM suggests that you abstain from drinking alcohol at least 3 or 4 days per week.
- Women who drink more than 3 drinks on any day, and more than 9 drinks per week, may be drinking at harmful levels. (See Note 2 below for definition of a “standard” drink)
- Men who drink more than 4 drinks on any day, and more than 14 drinks per week, may be drinking at harmful levels.
Notes:
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) charts are available at MM meetings, or at our BAC Table Link
Standard drink: one 12 oz-beer (5% alcohol), one 5-oz glass wine (12% alcohol), or 1 and 1/2 oz of 80-proof liquor (40% alcohol).
These “number of drinks” limits are LIMITS and not TARGETS. Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) charts are more accurate than number of drink limits because they take into account weight, sex, and rate of drinking. If you are very light in weight use the BAC upper limit of .O55%. Some researchers advise a limit of one drink per day for older adults (55+).
The limits used by MM are based on research published in 1995 in the American Journal of Public Health, by Dr. Martha Sanchez-Craig, Addiction Research Foundation, Toronto, Canada and other published limits.