At the end of a long day, all you want to do is kick back with a glass of wine. But while you may think that one glass equals one drink, that chalice you're chugging your Malbec from is probably more like two or three, according to researchers at Iowa State and Cornell universities.
Study participants were asked to pour what they considered a "normal drink" using different types of glasses in various settings. Turns out that people poured around 12 percent more wine into a wide glass than a standard one, 12 percent more when holding a glass while pouring rather than placing the glass on a table, and 9 percent more wine when pouring white wine over red wine.
These findings, published in Substance Use and Misuse, show that we really have no idea how much we're actually drinking. "One person's two is totally different than another person's two," said, Doug Walker, the lead author of the study. "Participants in the study were asked to pour the same amount at each setting, but they just couldn't tell the difference."
The real issue is that, "people have trouble assessing volumes," said Laura Smarandescu, an assistant professor of marketing at Iowa State (and teller of truths). "They tend to focus more on the vertical than the horizontal measures. That's why people tend to drink less when they drink from a narrow glass, because they think they're drinking more."
So, if you'd rather not get accidently blacked out at your work dinner or prefer not to wake up with a hangover you don't understand how you got, stick to red wine, narrow glasses, and keep that glass on the counter when you pour.
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