Alcohol

What Alcohol covers

Alcohol is examined in Unit AS 2, Diet, Lifestyle and Health — examined, compulsory. It covers units, energy and alcohol's link to obesity, alcohol, the heart and cancer, alcohol in pregnancy and the developing baby and nutritional effects of heavy drinking.

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page. CCEA AS Nutrition and Food Science students sit this topic in the first year.

• Units, energy and alcohol's link to obesityUnits of alcohol and how to calculate them, the UK low-risk guideline, the energy in alcoholic drinks and why alcohol encourages weight gain.Open →
• Alcohol, the heart and cancerAlcohol and blood pressure, heart failure and binge drinking, the debate over light drinking, acetaldehyde and the cancers alcohol causes.Open →
• Alcohol in pregnancy and the developing babyThe UK advice on alcohol in pregnancy, how alcohol reaches the fetus, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and its effects on growth and learning.Open →
• Nutritional effects of heavy drinkingHow the liver metabolises alcohol, fatty liver and liver disease, blood glucose, and heavy drinking's effects on thiamin, folate, vitamins K and D, zinc and iron.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Alcohol further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Alcohol unit vs ABV

  Alcohol unit: a fixed quantity of 10 ml, or 8 g, of pure ethanol. ABV: the percentage of a drink's volume made up of pure ethanol.

• Acetaldehyde vs Acetate

  Acetaldehyde: the toxic first breakdown product of ethanol that damages DNA. Acetate: the harmless end product of ethanol breakdown that cells can burn for energy.

• Fatty liver vs Cirrhosis

  Fatty liver: a build-up of triglyceride in hepatic cells that reverses with abstinence. Cirrhosis: permanent scarring that replaces healthy hepatic tissue.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is a unit of alcohol?

   Model answer

   One unit is 10 ml, or 8 g, of pure alcohol. The average adult takes about an hour to clear one unit from the blood.

2. 2

   How is the number of units in a drink calculated?

   Model answer

   Units equal the strength as a percentage multiplied by the volume in ml, divided by 1,000. A drink's strength is shown on the label as its ABV.

3. 3

   How many units are in a pint (568 ml) of beer at 4% ABV?

   Model answer

   A pint of 4% beer contains 2.3 units. The working is 4 × 568 ÷ 1,000 = 2.27, rounded to 2.3.

4. 4

   How many units are in a 175 ml glass of wine at 12% ABV?

   Model answer

   The glass contains 2.1 units. The working is 12 × 175 ÷ 1,000 = 2.1.

5. 5

   How many units are in a 750 ml bottle of wine at 13% ABV?

   Model answer

   The bottle contains 9.75 units, just under 10. The working is 13 × 750 ÷ 1,000 = 9.75.

6. 6

   State the UK Chief Medical Officers' low-risk drinking guideline.

   Model answer

   Men and women should drink no more than 14 units a week (UK Chief Medical Officers, 2016). The units should be spread over three or more days.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Alcohol revision questions

Is Alcohol examined at AS in CCEA Nutrition and Food Science?

Yes. It sits in AS 2, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.

What does Alcohol cover in CCEA AS-Level Nutrition and Food Science?

4 subtopics: units, energy and alcohol's link to obesity, alcohol, the heart and cancer, alcohol in pregnancy and the developing baby and nutritional effects of heavy drinking. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Alcohol organised?

By the CCEA 3310 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.