Published: 12:09 BST, 14 August 2026 | Updated: 12:13 BST, 14 August 2026
For almost a decade, Julie Lord’s evenings followed the same pattern: a glass of Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc that would always inevitably turn into a whole bottle.
It hadn’t always been that way. Julie, 56, from Leeds, had a successful, high-paying job in the pharmaceutical industry, and says she barely had time to drink while working.
But, when she took early retirement in 2017, alcohol crept into her daily routine – and stayed there.
And it was only when she started a new medication for an unrelated health condition that she found she was able to cut down.
‘Everybody knew I liked a drink,’ she says. ‘I drank because it was fun. I’d find a reason to open a bottle – whether that was because I had friends over or I was sun-bathing in the garden. Before I knew it, I’d have gone through the whole thing.’
Julie never saw it as a problem, she says, because she had no underlying health conditions and stayed active – a keen mountain hiker who describes herself as ‘super healthy’.
But her GP disagreed, warning her that she was drinking at harmful levels and pointing her towards support groups to help her cut down.
For almost a decade, Julie Lord’s evenings followed the same pattern: a glass of Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc that would always inevitably turn into a whole bottle
The NHS recommends drinking no more than 14 units of alcohol every week – roughly six medium glasses of white wine.
Regularly drinking more than this, research shows, can raise the risk of liver disease, heart problems, and even cancer.
But Julie was drinking around 70 units a week. Nevertheless, she was resistant to seeking help.
‘I didn’t want go to support group and talk about my problems,’ she says. ‘I didn’t drink because I had issues or was sad – I drink because I am happy and the binges happen when I’m having too much fun.’
Julie did try multiple times to cut back on her consumption. She tried waiting until the evening before opening a bottle. She even gave zero-alcohol wine a go.
However, she says she would always slip back into her old routine.
