8 Benefits of Using a Standard Drinking Calculator

An electronic calculation device that makes it easy for you to drink plenty of water and avoid dehydration is a good thing, but this is about something even better — a standard drink calculator. That calculator tells you exactly how much alcohol is in your drink.

As it turns out, knowing this information has many benefits. The following are eight of them.

1) Know How Much Alcohol is in Your Drink

This allows you to stay within limits for moderate daily drinking recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (one standard drink per day for women, two for men).

2) Calculate How Long You Can Safely Drive

You should know that a standard drink of alcohol contains about 15 grams of pure alcohol. Using this information, you can learn how many hours it will take to eliminate the alcohol from your body safely. Thus, if you have one drink at dinner, you can drive home after just one hour.

3) Calculate How Many Drinks You Can Have Before Being Over the Limit

You can also use your calculator to calculate how many drinks it will take for you to become legally intoxicated. If you plan on having more than this number of drinks, call a taxi or an Uber to avoid putting yourself and other motorists at risk.

4) Know the Strength of a Drink

You can also use the drink calculator to determine how much alcohol is in your drink if you order something that doesn't have its alcohol content listed on the label. For example, if you order a vodka cranberry from a bar, you can type "vodka cranberry" into your calculator, and it will tell you that there are 1.4 standard drinks in a typical serving of that drink.

5) Find How Much Alcohol You Can Drink on an Empty Stomach

If you're going to have weight-loss surgery, take one medication or another, or you want to know the answer to this question, your standard drink calculator is the tool to use.

6) Find How Many Drinks Will Put You Over the Limit If You're Tasting Wine

Suppose you're taking medications, trying to lose weight, or have trouble metabolizing ethanol (the chemical in alcohol that makes people drunk). In that case, you probably want to know how many drinks it will take before you're over the limit. Your calculator can tell you this, too.

7) Find How Much Alcohol is in a Mixed Drink

You can use your standard calculator to determine how many shots or ounces of hard liquor are in a typical mixed drink and what percentage of ethanol is in it. This helps ensure that you're not drinking too much.

8) Find How Much Alcohol is in a Beer, Wine, or Any Other Drink

You can use your calculator to find out how much alcohol is in the drink of your choice. The result will show you precisely what percentage of ethanol is in your drink so that you never have more than one standard drink.

How to Find the Right Drink Calculator?

There are several standard calculators available online. Type in the name or type of your beverage, and it will calculate exactly how many drinks there are in a typical serving of that drink. For choosing the right one, consider the below factors.

What Type of Standard Calculator Does It Use?

This is the most crucial criterion. If you're not using a "standard" calculator, your answers will be incorrect and misleading. Fortunately, all calculators of this nature are based on the same formula, so if one doesn't work for you, there's no point in trying another.

Does It Provide Measurements in Ounces, Milliliters, or Grams?

If you type your drink's name into a calculator with measurements in metric units, that's the only kind of unit the calculator will use. Thus, if you want to know how many standard drinks are in an ounce of Jack Daniel's whisky, but the calculator uses ounces, you'll get an incorrect answer.

Is It Free?

If you're looking for a way to calculate drinks as quickly as possible, using a free calculator is the best option. It's probably more prudent to pay for one so that you can be sure of its accuracy. For example, some free apps track your moderate alcohol consumption on a day-to-day basis. They come with a standard drink calculator, too.

A drink calculator is only as accurate as the information you put into it. Thus, if your beverage doesn't have its alcohol content listed on the label, you need to do some research first before using a standard drink calculator.