Do you remember when the catch phrase of marketing was, “There an app for that”? Applications for use on our mobile devices have become big business, and there is an app for just about everything – including a Smartphone app that tells you when to stop drinking.
The Alcohol Tracker
According to Livescience.com, doctors in Singapore have created a Smartphone app called Alcohol Tracker that lets users track how many drinks they’ve had each day. Once a user drinks and logs more than the maximum amount of recommended alcohol by leading health organizations, the app releases a notification, warning the user that the recommended limit has been reached.
The developers behind Alcohol Tracker are hoping their app will help drinkers better manage their alcohol intake. It could also counteract other apps that promote drinking through interactive drinking games, like the app named Let’s Get Wasted!
Alcohol Tracker leverages user input data to track a person’s drinking habits, both on a daily and weekly basis. The notification will let a user know when they’ve surpassed the daily limit and when their weekly limit has been reached. On the user side, it’s as simple as telling the app how many glasses of wine, shots, or beers they’ve consumed. The app saves and compiles the data based on guidelines put in place by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (UK-based) and the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments.
The Limits
Alcohol has both short and long term effects. It can be responsible for major health conditions that dramatically impact a drinker’s lifestyle and standard of living. From chronic heart problems to liver disease and mental issues, alcohol is one of the most dangerous legal substances in the world.
Most alcohol consumption guidelines recommend one limit for men and another for women. In general, women should not have more than roughly six ounces of wine per day. Men, on the other hand, have a slightly higher limit. They are allowed roughly 19 ounces (or a pint) of beer or cider per day.
The Alcohol Tracker app can help users track their overall alcohol intake. It has the potential to reduce and even curb a drinker’s habits. The app features several links to resources, including the phone number for an alcohol helpline. It also includes a number of tools designed to help users limit their consumption, such as a questionnaire that when completed determines a user’s risk of alcohol misuse.
Avoiding a DUI or DWI
Binge drinking often leads to consistent alcohol abuse and addiction. A pattern of heavy drinking can quickly lead to a DUI or DWI, and as history has so aptly taught us, the consequences of driving drunk can be deadly and irreversible.
While apps like Alcohol Tracker are no substitute for proper DWI services or counseling for alcohol abuse, they can be a tool for kicking the habit or avoiding the trap of over indulging. Alcohol Tracker is a tool worth checking out.