Drink tracking apps are one of several strategies aimed at increasing awareness of the quantity of alcohol people consume and helping them to reduce their consumption. But do they work? In this blog, we’ll explore alcohol use and its impact in the US, how to determine what you’re consuming, some of the latest tracking apps, how they work, and if they help folks drink less.
Facts about alcohol use
Alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs in societies and cultures around the world. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), more people over the age of 12 have used alcohol in the past year than any other drug or tobacco product. In fact, alcohol use disorder is the most common type of substance use disorder in the US.
Despite how common alcohol is and its impact on public health in the United States (US), many people are unaware of how much they consume, the size of a standard drink, and the risks associated with alcohol use.
What is a standard drink?
Most people consume more alcohol than they’re aware of. Different types of alcohol, like beer, wine, and spirits, contain wide-ranging alcohol concentrations. Therefore, the size of the beverage does not determine the alcohol content.
However, NIAA says there are examples of a standard drink, such as:
- 12 oz of regular beer (5 percent alcohol).
- 5 oz of table wine (12 percent alcohol).
- 1.5 oz of distilled spirits (gin, rum, vodka, whiskey, tequila) – with around 40 percent alcohol.
- 3-4 oz fortified wine (sherry or port) – around 17 percent alcohol.
- 8-10 oz of hard seltzer (around 7 percent alcohol).
Each drink example contains 0.6 fluid ounces or 14 grams of pure alcohol.
Many public health agencies, like NIAAA, have long warned that drinking too much* alcohol can have negative impacts and increase your risk for several health and associated problems, like cancer, stroke, alcoholic hepatitis, high blood pressure, and a weakened immune system. But what exactly is too much?
What is heavy or binge drinking?
According to NIAAA, chronic alcohol use starts with binge drinking, heavy alcohol use, or high-intensity drinking before it gets to the stage of alcohol use disorder. These categories of problematic drinking are defined as:
- Binge drinking: a pattern of drinking that results in a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent, or 0.08 grams of alcohol per deciliter or higher. For a typical adult, this consists of four or more drinks for women and five or more for men, over two hours.
- Heavy alcohol use (or heavy drinking): Is defined as five or more drinks in a day, or more than 15 drinks per week for men, and four or more drinks a day, or eight or more drinks per week for women.
- High-intensity drinking: twice (or more) the thresholds for binge drinking, such as 10 or more drinks, or equivalents, for men or eight or more for women.
How common is problematic drinking?
In a 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health:
- Binge drinking: 23.5 percent of people over the age of 18 engaged in binge drinking in the last month.
- Heavy alcohol use: 16.3 million people aged over 18 reported heavy alcohol use in the last month.
- High intensity drinking: Compared to those who don’t binge drink, people who drank alcohol at twice the binge drinking thresholds were 70 times more likely to have an aclohol-related visit to the emergency department, and those who dranks at three times the binge drinking thresholds, were 93 times more likely to visit the emergency department for alcohol-related problems.
How can drink tracking apps help with alcohol consumption?
Many people do not realize that their drinking fits into a category of problematic drinking. One way to increase awareness of drinking patterns is to track consumption.
Various drink tracking apps use innovative features to make logging easier. These apps offer several benefits, such as:
- Helping folks count and measure alcohol consumption.
- Increase awareness of how much you’re consuming.
- Educate about the effects of drinking on health, behavior, and well-being.
- Set goals based on standard drink size and recommended drinking limits.
- Help slow down your drinking.
- Provide community support to others who are also trying to reduce drinking.
- Provide inspiration to motivate behavior change.
- Identify when you might need additional help with your drinking.
What drink tracking apps are out there?
- Sunnyside: Launched in 2020, this AI-assisted app claims to have helped 200,000 people cut out 13.5 million drinks by using goal-based strategies to drink on their own terms. The app features one-on-one coaching via text and an online community for peer support. It costs $99 annually and is available in the App Store and Google Play.
- Reframe: This app, developed by doctors and psychologists using neuroscience, helps users track their drinking, encourages no-drinking days, provides daily tools and inspiration, and has a 24-hour community. It costs $9.99 a month.
- DrinkControl: Designed to track alcohol intake in whatever size glass or can and convert it into a standard drink to inform users how much they are drinking, set moderate drinking limits, and track how much money they spend on alcohol. It costs $ and is available in the App Store and Google Play.
- Drinkers Helper—Drink Less: This app helps people cut back on drinking, set goals and track progress, and provides a personalized support group and community. It is free to download at the App Store.
- TRY DRY: A 31-day challenge to “break free from booze” from Alcohol Change UK. The app provides tips to manage the challenge, ideas for low and no alcohol drinks, and more. The app is free and available in the App Store.
Many people wonder whether these apps work. In the few studies available, researchers have found they have the potential. Still, there is limited research evaluating their effectiveness, and only a handful of apps are available to the public.
However, one study reviewing the UK-based app Drinkaware found it was a helpful tool. While 119,713 downloaded the app, scientists found high attrition rates in the first week. However, those who did engage were high-risk drinkers, and those who consistently engaged with the app reduced self-reported alcohol consumption. Researchers identified opportunities to promote longer-term use of the app, such as tailoring its features further to increase user satisfaction.
Another study, reviewing patient perceptions of using self-monitoring apps to complement treatment for alcohol dependence, found that the technology has the potential to enhance treatment accessibility and effectiveness. They showed that smartphone apps may increase consumption awareness, motivation, and perceived control. However, they also said the apps may benefit from improved features, and technical problems can constrain their effectiveness.
DIY drink tracking
If you don’t want to download an app, there are other ways to track your alcohol consumption Here are a few to try:
- Use a drinking tracker card. You can make your own, or download this one from the NIAAA. There are even downloadable drink tracking printables on Etsy.
- Repurpose one of the many tools created to track water consumption to instead keep an eye on your alcohol consumption.
- Keep a pen or marker in your pocket and make a mark on your hand for each drink.
- Note your drinks in the notes app on your smartphone, or snap a photo of every drink to create a visual record.
*According to the World Health Organization, no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health.