If you thought that #girlmaths was an unhelpful and misogynistic trend, you’ll be disappointed to hear that it’s spawned a whole range of unsavoury microtrends – and #winemaths is one you may have come across.

“If we’re both having a glass of wine we may as well just get a bottle,” reads one caption on TikTok, while others more explicitly reference it enabling their drinking habits. #winemaths is characterised by using dubious rounding-up to encourage us to drink more wine – and it appears to be working.

With new research showing that British women are the biggest binge-drinkers in the developed world, what seems like an innocuous and amusing way of rationalising our alcohol consumption suddenly seems a lot more sinister. A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) compared alcohol consumption across 38 member countries - and the UK topped the global charts for binge-drinking among women. 

We take a look at what really happens to our bodies and minds when we go down the “we may as well just get a bottle” train of thought – and why binge-drinking is less glamorous and more downright dangerous. 

“Binge-drinking is all about drinking to excess, but not all of the time,” explains counsellor Georgina Sturmer. “A binge-drinker might drink moderately, or not at all, between binges. We might assume that a binge would always be accompanied by a big night out or a social event. But that assumption doesn’t always ring true. Many binge-drinkers will drink to excess quietly and on their own, in the privacy of their own home.”

Worryingly, the #winemaths trend makes drinking more than we usually would seem alluring, and while you might not consider yourself a binge-drinker, if you’re abstaining all week before a weekend bender (whatever this may look like to you), the bad news is that this is classed as heavy episodic drinking – aka binge-drinking.

And at this time of year, with Christmas parties and gatherings pretty much every week, this can soon add up to a lot of alcohol. While a “if we’re all doing it, it doesn’t count” mindset is appealing, tapping into our pack mentality – it’s simply not true. 

While there’s no research suggesting an amount of alcohol that actually benefits us, there is some anecdotal evidence that drinking small amounts regularly is much better for us than going all-out every now and then - take the Blue Zones, where drinking a little is part of the culture. 

But the experts all agree that drinking to excess is bad, both mentally and physically.

“Alcohol is linked to various cancers and around 200 other diseases,” says sober coach Anna Sudbury. “Binge-drinking increases these risks, but there are multiple other ways alcohol can cause damage.”

Physical impact of binge-drinking

Raised blood sugar

“Even one night of binging alcohol messes with your blood sugars and glucose levels - that’s why you are so hungry the next day,” explains Sudbury. “It raises both your cholesterol and your blood pressure, as well as your stress hormones - adrenaline and cortisol. Both of these are released in times of high stress and stop your body functioning efficiently and effectively.”

Disrupted digestion

Alcohol stops your gut from digesting food efficiently – you might notice a ‘booze bloat’ or a funny tummy. 

“Gut health is also linked to your mental health, so the ‘booze blues’ or ‘beer fear’ might hit the next day,” warns Sudbury. 

Sluggish liver function

Drinking alcohol also prevents your organs (in particular your liver, kidneys and heart) from working as well as they should – your liver alone has 500 vital functions and can’t function at its best when it’s also dealing with alcohol in the body.

Poor sleep

And last but not least, while you might crash out easily after a night of drinking, you won’t be getting quality sleep. “Alcohol stops you achieving REM sleep, affecting memory consolidation, brain development and emotional processing,” says Sudbury.

Mental effects of binge-drinking

And unfortunately, the negative impacts of binge-drinking aren’t limited to physical effects – if you’ve ever struggled with hangxiety, you’ll know exactly what we mean. 

It can heighten difficult emotions

“Binge-drinking is often, in some way, a coping strategy,” explains Sturmer. “But the key element to remember is that the act of binge-drinking is unlikely to make handling life’s difficulties easier. Perhaps we are feeling anxious, depressed, scared or worried, and we turn to binge-drinking to make these feelings go away. The reality is that these feelings remain, and fester, and are likely to worsen.”

It impacts our relationships

By its very nature, binge-drinking is something that is generally out of the ordinary for us. This means that it can make us act and respond in ways that seem out of character or unpredictable. 

“Acting differently when drinking can have a negative impact on our relationships with those around us” says Sturmer. “They might struggle to cope with how we present ourselves when we have been drinking.”

If you recognise that you’re falling into binge-drinking habits and behaviours, all is not lost. 

“The first step is to recognise that our drinking is causing a problem,” cautions Sturmer. ” Notice if you’re turning to binge-drinking as a way of coping with life’s difficulties – then it’s a two-pronged attack. Firstly, try to figure out what you need in order to curtail your drinking. It might mean abstinence, or a support programme, or it might mean setting limits and sticking to them. 

“The other half of the coin is to figure out what lies beneath the binges, however infrequent they are. What are you trying to cope with, or forget, or ignore? “

If you’re struggling to face up to your fears or worries, or think that your drinking patterns are becoming problematic, seek professional support. And we don’t mean from TikTok. 

Images: Getty