Cutting your drinking with alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks

Swapping a standard strength beer, wine, or spirit for a low alcohol or alcohol-free alternative could help cut the amount of alcohol you drink and improve your health.

If you’re looking for a way to cut down on alcohol without cutting it out completely, alcohol-free or low alcohol drinks could be right for you.

There are more alcohol-free and low alcohol alternatives to standard beer, wine, cider, and spirits like gin available than ever before. And with recent advances in technology meaning better tasting products, if you want to lower your risk of alcohol related harm, there’s never been a better time to give them a try.

Low alcohol and alcohol-free drinks aren’t suitable for everyone – nearly all still contain alcohol. They may not be considered acceptable if you avoid alcohol for religious reasons, and they aren’t recommended for anyone who needs to avoid alcohol completely, if you’re pregnant, or under 18.

Why choose low alcohol or alcohol-free drinks?

Without realising it, the units of alcohol in your drinks can quickly add up. This could take you over the UK Chief Medical Officers' (CMOs) low risk drinking guidelines of no more than 14 units a week (for both men and women), spread over three or more days with several drink-free days and no bingeing.¹

Getting into the habit of drinking fewer standard alcoholic drinks and replacing them with alcohol-free or low alcohol alternatives can form part of a sustainable approach to cutting down on alcohol in the longer-term.²

Swapping a standard strength alcoholic drink for a low alcohol or alcohol-free one will mean you consume fewer units of alcohol and are more likely to stay within the CMOs’ guidelines – but only if you aren’t adding them on top of any alcohol you usually drink.

Low alcohol drinks contain 1.2% alcohol (ABV) or less. Alcohol-free drinks are 0.5% ABV or less, with many following government guidance in England to contain 0.05% ABV or less.³

The benefits of drinking less are clear. You’re more likely to get a better night’s sleep,⁴ so feel fresher the next day, and it can lower your risk of the serious long-term effects of alcohol including seven types of cancer, stroke, liver, and heart disease.⁵

More and more people are cutting down by using alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks. In fact, figures from 2025 show 45% of UK drinkers consumed low or alcohol-free drinks in the last 12 months, up from 22% in 2021; and three in five (61%) use these as a replacement for alcoholic drinks.⁶

These days, there are more, better tasting, low alcohol drinks to choose from than ever before. Drinkaware research has found regular drinkers of low alcohol and alcohol-free drinks thought the taste had improved over recent years. Negative perceptions of taste were more common among people who hadn’t tried them, with many people pleasantly surprised with the taste when they did.⁷

How to make the change

Introducing low alcohol or alcohol-free drinks to your routine is simple, and it doesn’t mean you have to stick to them all the time. Here are some tips if you’re ready to give them a try.

Swap, don’t add

Because they have much less alcohol in them, switching a standard alcoholic drink for a low alcohol or alcohol-free alternative can be a good way to cut your units – but only if you aren’t adding them on top of any alcohol you usually drink.

You may be surprised how easy the swap makes it to cut down a few units here and there, if you are having one less standard strength beer, wine, cider, or gin. Then you can start enjoying the benefits of cutting down, such as getting a better night’s sleep or reducing your blood pressure.⁸

Track your units and calories

If you drink alcohol, tracking how many units you are having is a good way of sticking to the UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines. That means no more than 14 units a week (for both men and women), spread over three or more days with several drink-free days.⁹ The MyDrinkaware app is an easy way to keep track of both the units and the calories in your alcoholic drinks and set goals to help you moderate your drinking.

Don't binge

Choosing a low alcohol or alcohol-free alternative to beer, wine, cider, or spirits is a great way to cut your alcohol intake. But that doesn’t mean you should put your ‘saved’ units towards a heavier drinking session on another night. Binge drinking (more than six units in a single session for a woman, or more than eight units for a man)¹⁰ is dangerous – you’re at greater risk of accidents, alcohol poisoning, and other short- and long-term health issues.¹¹

They aren’t for everyone

Low alcohol and alcohol-free drinks still usually contain some alcohol. They may not be considered acceptable if you avoid alcohol for religious reasons, and they aren’t recommended for anyone who is pregnant or under 18 – or for anyone who has been advised to avoid alcohol completely for other medical reasons.¹²

It’s also important to remember that some alcohol-free drinks are high in sugar – so they aren’t automatically a ‘healthier’ choice. If you’re worried about gaining weight, alternating with a glass of water avoids some extra calories, or choosing a labelled low-calorie drink.

When to choose low alcohol and alcohol-free drinks

Low alcohol and alcohol-free drinks can be a great way of cutting down on the amount you drink at home or pacing yourself on a night out, helping to avoid the short-term effects of drinking too much.

Many people who drink low alcohol and alcohol-free alternatives, choose them as a practical choice – for example when they need to drive.¹³

There are strict limits on the amount of alcohol allowed in your system to be able to drive, with a lower limit in Scotland than England, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, the Government recently announced it is considering bringing the legal drink drive limit in England and Wales in line with Scotland. The safest and best advice is to avoid alcohol completely if you need to drive.

By making a few simple changes you can cut the number of units you drink each week. For example, if you regularly have a couple of bottles of beer after work, switching to a 1.2% ABV low alcohol beer instead of the usual 5% ABV would reduce the number of units you drink in an evening making a huge difference over a week and reducing your risk of longer-term harm.