Woman's month-long trial binge-drinking ages her by 10 years

Nicky Taylor was an ordinary drinker. She never had more than two glasses of white wine a night and rarely exceeded the weekly recommended limit of 14 units.

But in a remarkable experiment, the 40-year-old mother of three increased her alcohol intake 10-fold. She went out with a group of twenty-something women five nights a week for a month to see firsthand what binge drinking can do to the body.

She matched the women drink for drink as they downed shots, alcopops and pints in pubs and clubs around Britain. She drank 516 units in a month.

Her body fat increased from 37.4 per cent to 38.9 per cent. She put on more than 3kg, going from a size 12 to size 14.

Most disturbingly, the month-long binge has aged her skin so much that she now has the complexion of someone aged 50. "I cannot believe how bad it all got," said Taylor. "By the end of it I felt disgusting."

The experiment - like the American film-maker Morgan Spurlock's eating only McDonald's for 30 days for his film Super Size Me - was conducted for a BBC television documentary.

Taylor was regularly downing twice the recommended weekly limit in a single night. She drank eight mojito cocktails, five glasses of wine, three bottles of beer, two vodka and oranges, a bottle of Smirnoff Ice and a Slippery Nipple cocktail - a total of 28 units. Women are supposed to drink no more than two or three units a day - and a maximum of 14 in a week.

"At first I found it difficult to drink so much, she said, "but the more I drank the easier it was. My tolerance levels shot up - I can really down it now. A couple of glasses of wine used to get me a bit tipsy. Now I have longer staying power."

Taylor's liver was no worse at the end of the 30-day experiment. Doctors told her she would have to continue bingeing for a further five months to do lasting damage. But the experiment took its toll on her health.

"My skin became extremely dry. I lost my jaw line. It became saggy and very unattractive. I developed chipmunk cheeks, which is just horrible, and put on 8lbs [3kg] in weight - I was drinking the equivalent of about 2000 calories a night. I was warned that if I carried on I would get central obesity - a big tyre around my stomach. It happened. I was enormous - I had to go back to really big clothes.

"Towards the end I got quite depressed. I quite enjoyed going out in the first week, but then it really got me tired. Drink drains you completely. I found I had to sleep during the day to recharge myself."

At no stage did Taylor struggle to find somewhere to drink or someone who would serve her. Bar staff are supposed to not serve people who are drunk, but Taylor was never refused a drink, no matter how under the influence she became.

"I got myself hammered and made it quite obvious - shouting at bar staff, that sort of thing. I still got served. Nobody takes any notice of these laws."

The experiment has irrevocably changed the drinking habits of a woman who used to drink two glasses of white wine a night.

"When I look at a bottle of chardonnay now, I think to myself it is a drug - as bad as a cigarette," she said. "It is almost like we are kidding ourselves that it is not really a drug.

"Because of that whole attitude, it does not invoke any fear. Everyone is doing it. Politicians are doing it. No one wants to say alcohol does you no good whatsoever.

"I still drink - I am not going to stop. But I will not drink every night now. I have cut down considerably."

- INDEPENDENT