This Drinking Habit Can Help You Consume Less Wine, New Study Suggests — Eat This Not That

There are many Reasons to cut down on alcohol, including the fact that it can be quite detrimental to health. For example, “alcohol contains seven calories per gram (more than protein and carbohydrates), making alcohol very calorie-dense, but nutrient-poor.” Jean Hanks, MS, RDN, CDNa registered dietitian nutritionist good for messerHe says Eat this, not that!. Not to mention the fact that drinking alcohol regularly “promotes fat storage, as the body prioritizes the body’s metabolism of alcohol over food if the two are consumed at the same time.” On top of that, Hanks says that drinking alcohol can “interfere with a good night’s sleep,” while “binge drinking is linked to liver damage and high blood pressure.”

However, it may not always be easy to pass up a second glass of wine or another pint of beer, even if that’s what’s best for your body. Fortunately, a new study has found that there is a simple habit that can help you reduce the amount you drink on a regular basis.

What the study found

In the study, which was published in the journal Addiction, 260 households in the UK that normally consumed two 750-milliliter bottles of wine each week (the equivalent of 10 five-ounce glasses of wine) were asked to adopt a new drinking habit for 14 days. While some were told to continue buying 750-milliliter bottles of wine, others opted for bottles half the size. At the same time, some participants were instructed to drink from 350-milliliter glasses, while others used smaller 290-milliliter glasses.

When the researchers looked at how much wine the participants had consumed over the two weeks, they found that those who bought wine in smaller bottles drank one less glass of wine (146 milliliters) compared to those who drank from the larger bottle.

A more significant finding was that participants who used smaller glasses drank 6.5% less wine, or the equivalent of 1.7 fewer glasses (253 milliliters), over 14 days.

“While this particular study is small (260 households) and only focused on one population (people living in the UK), it does suggest that resizing glassware could be a realistic strategy for people trying to reduce your alcohol consumptionHank says. Eat this, not that!.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

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This drinking habit can be more helpful than other habits when it comes to controlling alcohol intake.

Hanks notes that “recommendations for alcohol consumption generally focus on the number of drinks (that is, men should stick to two or three drinks maximum per day) rather than the exact amount of alcohol consumed.” However, Hanks notes that “generally, people at home don’t measure five ounces, the serving size of wine, when they pour themselves a glass.”

Because people rarely measure a poured wine exactly to the recommended serving size, “if people are focused on sticking to a certain limit for wine glasses, and the glasses are smaller, it makes sense that they would then consume less came in general.

Desiree O