4 THINGS THAT WILL AFFECT HOW DRUNK YOU GET

4 THINGS THAT WILL AFFECT HOW DRUNK YOU GET

By prevention.com - Amber Brenza

I have a confession: I'm a serious lightweight when it comes to alcohol—it's a blessing and a burden. On the plus side, I can save a ton of money when I go out because I'm only going to have one or two drinks. The downside: I'm the epitome of those "can't hang" memes—I'm in a cab, on the way home before the party even starts for most people. (Too tired to party? Find out Why You're Tired All the Time.)
 
As a woman, I kind of drew the short end of the stick as far as alcohol tolerance goes—it's a well-researched fact that ladies just can't hold their liquor as well as men can. Many different factors are at play: Women are physically smaller than men; women carry more fat and less water in their bodies (giving alcohol less of a chance to dilute) than men do; and women even have less of a protective enzyme (alcohol dehydrogenase—known to break down alcohol) than men have. Our hormones (natural or through contraceptives) potentially make us extra susceptible to getting tipsy, too, but research in that area is divided. Basically, ladies, we're all lightweights.

 
But having a vagina isn't the only thing that gets you three sheets to the wind by 10 p.m. Here are four more things that affect how drunk you'll get.

You're a beer-glass snob

If you stick your nose up at the average, straight-sided glass, you may be more likely to end the night under the table. It turns out, those specialty beer glasses (the ones made specifically for Hefeweizens, pilsners, lagers, etc.) influence how fast you drink your beer, according a study published in the journal PLOS ONE. Researchers from the University of Bristol found that total drinking speed increases by a whopping 60% when an alcoholic beverage (in this case, beer) is presented in a curved or fluted glass, compared with a straight one. Perception is at play here—it's more difficult to tell the halfway point in a curved glass versus a straight glass, which can drastically alter your drinking rate.

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