Story highlights UK announces stiff new advice on drinking alcohol

Men see biggest reduction in recommended upper limit of alcohol per week to 14 units

UK joins Australia in having parity for men and women in guidelines

London (CNN) If you feel like you had one too many drinks over the winter holiday season -- you probably did. At least, if tough new guidelines on drinking just announced by the UK's chief medical officers are anything to go by.

Perhaps timing the announcement to coincide with many Britons' January health kick, the new guidelines suggest that both men and women should regularly drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week.

That's the equivalent of six small glasses of wine or five pints of beer at 5% ABV strength. Pregnant women should not drink at all.

Guidelines in the U.S. recommend that women should not exceed one standard drink per day and men should no more than two. That equates to 12 units a week for women and just over 24 for men.

Most worryingly, perhaps, the new UK advice suggests that there is no safe level of drinking -- and any amount of alcohol can increase the risk of cancer, according to new research.

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