Theresa John, who has been clean of drink and drugs for four years, said the Alcohol Health Alliance's findings highlight how churches should help raise awareness of the issue.
Theresa, who works as an administrator at Victory Outreach Manchester - a church which operates recovery homes for those affected by alcoholism - told Premier: "Even within our own circles, whether it's in work or church, we need to be training people that these guidelines are actually quite stringent."
The poll of 2,000 people fond 84 per cent of people were unaware of the Chief Medical Officer's advice that both men and women should keep their drinking to a "low" level, not exceeding more than 14 units per week.
The research, which the Alliance commissioned from the national polling firm OnePoll also found only three per cent of people were aware that an alcohol-free childhood is considered best.
Theresa John went on to say: "With my own personal experience, one of the things that I recognise is I didn't know the guidelines.
"Some of the drinks I was consuming, although it may have been one can, the percentage of alcohol in them was far exceeding the units you were meant to have in one day."
Fourteen units of alcohol is approximately equivalent to 6 pints of four per cent beer, six glasses of 13 per cent wine or 14 glasses (25ml) of 40 per cent spirits.
When asked, only ten per cent of the respondents named cancer when they were asked what diseases and illnesses are linked to excessive alcohol consumption.
Highlighting the need for people to discuss problem drinking with loved ones, Theresa John added: "We need to really be putting a push through our churches and even through our families - because I think sometimes with family members we can think 'that's just their way of unwinding', we need to be bringing more of an awareness."
Click here to listen to Premier's Alex Williams speaking with Theresa John at Victory Outreach Manchester:
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