I've been thinking about my relationship with alcohol for a long time now - and been thinking about writing this blog post for almost as long. It is a difficult subject to discuss, particularly in Scotland, where alcohol and heaving drinking is such a huge part of our cultural baggage. Alcohol isn't something that we Scots (or Brits) discuss, just something we do. To even raise the issue almost feels like a dangerous act, an admission that you are an alcoholic and clearly "need help" - only alcoholics have a problem with alcohol, the rest of us just enjoy it, goes the argument.

Well, I do enjoy it. I like beer - lager, mainly - wine, and vodka. I'm not a fan of cider, don't drink gin, and find whisky just a little bit like hard work. I used to drink several bottles of wine a week, plus beer when I went to the pub at the weekend, but following a health kick in 2011 I decided to cut out my mid-week drinking. No long or stressful day would be an excuse to buy a £5.99 bottle of Cabernet Sauvingnon or Montepulciano. I stopped buying vodka, because in my hands a bottle of good vodka wouldn't last very long and was always a tempting thought. I stopped partly for the health reasons, but also because I found that I was wasting my evenings. I would settle down with a bottle of wine after dinner, and a few hours later realise I hadn't moved from the sofa, I was feeling tipsy, and that it was time for bed.

I think this restraint has been worth it. Certainly I am healthier and fitter, I no longer go to work feeling slightly groggy (well, not because of alcohol), my evenings can be more productive. An unexpected downside though is that I feel that when I do drink, I get drunk quicker. A few pints in the pub with friends leaves me feeling much less in control than previously. A bottle of wine is quite sufficient. I daren't drink vodka at all, and it's probably for the best that I hardly ever drink whisky at all.

Because of this, I've started to wonder about whether I should be drinking alcohol at all? Perhaps it is a temporary thing, but if I haven't been enjoying wine or beer as much, and it gets me drunker quicker, then maybe it's time to cut it out entirely?

I can't see that happening - it feels like an over-reaction. I do like a drink; I love that first glass of red wine; a cool beer is exactly the right thing on a hot summer's eve. A night in the pub with friends goes down so much more easily with a beer. I really don't like drinking a lot of Coca-Cola or other sugary drinks, as they give me a headache very quickly.

So I suppose the solution is to drink moderately. Sensibly. I'll just have a half. And apologies to my friends who want to go out to get drunk - I'd rather just have a few drinks, thanks, and be headache-free in the morning.

What is moderately? Well, according to a recent Oxford University report, that's just half a unit a day. That's less than half a pint of beer. It's a splash of wine. It's the fumes from a bottle of whisky. In short, it's not a remotely realistic suggestion of how people should drink, and I think is at risk of alienating those who wish to make sensible drinking decisions. Those who drink a lot will ignore it entirely. In short, the report has no value to anyone who enjoys a drink.