Friday, August 31, 2012

Want to cut down your drinking? Try a straight beer glass instead - Daily Mail

By Fiona Macrae

PUBLISHED: 19:34 EST, 31 August 2012 | UPDATED: 19:34 EST, 31 August 2012

If you want to cut down on your drinking without sacrificing nights out, the answer could be straight forward.

Research shows that lager is drunk much more slowly from a straight-sided glass than from a curved one.

In fact, it takes almost twice as long to enjoy a glassful.

Straight sided pint glasses slow down your drinking, according to new research

Straight sided pint glasses slow down your drinking, according to new research

The finding means those who want to enjoy a night out without suffering a hangover the next day may do well to avoid the curved lager glasses that are often used in bars.

Social drinkers taking part in the Bristol University study were given a glass of lager or one of lemonade and told to drink it while they watched a nature documentary.

The lager served in a curved glass was finished in almost half the time, the journal PLoS ONE reports.

In later tests, the men and women, aged 18 to 40, were shown pictures of pairs of glasses and asked whether they were more or less than half full.

They tended to get the answer wrong, judging them to be fuller than they actually were.

Which glass? If you choose the curved one you're more likely to drink it faster and end up with a hangover

Which glass? If you choose the curved one you're more likely to drink it faster and end up with a hangover

Those shown the curved glasses, which hold much more liquid at the top than at the bottom, did particularly badly.

The researchers said pub-goers might find it more difficult to judge how much they have drunk if their glass is much wider at the top than at the bottom, leading to them downing their lager more quickly.

If this is the case, something as simple as marking the half-way point on curved glasses could have substantial public health benefits and  help prevent binge-drinking.

The researchers said: ‘Drinking time is slowed by almost 60 per cent when an alcoholic beverage is presented in a straight glass compared with a curved glass.

‘Clearly, many other factors will influence drinking rate, including social context. However, even a  modest reduction in drinking rate, when achieved over a large number of individuals, might lead to a  substantial reduction in alcohol-related harm.’

Interestingly, the type of glass used did not affect how quickly the lemonade was drunk â€" perhaps because we have less reason to pace ourselves with a soft drink.

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