Sipping Drinks Out of This Kind of Glass Could Save You From a Hangover This Holiday Season

The holiday party season is well underway — which, for some of us, means waking up with a pounding head after downing one too many glasses of cheer. It’s easy to carried away by the holiday spirit, but if you’re looking for a way to curb your consumption of alcohol (not to mention sugar and calories), science has a solution: Sip your beverage of choice from a champagne flute!

A study published recently in Scientific Reports looked at how glass shape impacts how much we drink. Researchers conducted a series of experiments comparing drinking behavior when sipping from different types of glasses. A total of 200 participants — mainly students and staff from the University of Cambridge, England, half of whom were women — were included in the study, which was conducted between May and July 2018.

In the first experiment, participants were given 330 ml of a carbonated apple drink, either in a straight-sided or outward-sloped tumbler (pictured below). In subsequent experiments, they were given 165 ml of a non-carbonated passionfruit drink served in a champagne flute or a martini coupe. All participants were asked to drink their at their own pace while watching a nature documentary.

In the first experiment, participants sipping the fizzy apple drink out of outward-sloped glasses drank more slowly than those drinking from a straight-sided glass. However, there wasn’t a strong enough link to determine whether the glass shape had an impact on overall consumption.

The other experiments were a different story, however. People who drank out of champagne flutes consumed less of the passionfruit drink, compared to the martini glasses. And not only did they drink less, they drank it more slowly. Researchers theorized that the slowed-down consumption was due to the small size of a champagne flute’s rim: People have to purse their lips when drinking out of it, leading to smaller sips.

The conclusion? If you’re trying to drink less, drink from a champagne glass!

While the holidays are all about indulging, regularly drinking too many unhealthy beverages can lead to a greater likelihood of cancer, heart trouble, and a higher risk of Alzheimer’s. Bah! Humbug! But a simple glassware swap could help you enjoy yourself without overdoing it. Just remember to stay hydrated, and get back to your usual healthy habits next year.