In 2015, 26.9 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the past month; 7.0 percent reported that they engaged in heavy alcohol use in the past month. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), binge drinking is five or more alcoholic drinks for males or four or more alcoholic drinks for females in the same sitting. Heavy drinking is binge drinking on five or more days in one month.
The medical research journal BMJ published a study by researchers at England’s University of Cambridge, who looked at wine consumption over time. They examined wine glasses in museum and personal collections, as well as looking at records from glassware manufacturers, and found that today’s serving sizes are seven times larger than those of 300 years ago. Wine drinking has also increased in popularity – by nearly four times in the period from 1960 to 1980, and then almost double again between 1980 and 2004. Part of the reason for this is the relative inexpensiveness of wine and its easy availability, but researchers believe that the increasing size of wine glasses may have played a role as well.
A standard drink of wine, for the purposes of defining binge drinking and heavy drinking, is five ounces. This is how much a bartender or server in a restaurant will usually pour. However, when people are left to their own devices while drinking at home, they tend to over-pour, even going so far as to fill the entire glass.
Believe it or not, there are 18 different kinds of wine glasses. Six of them are for varieties of red wine alone. Red wine glasses are taller and have larger bowls than other kinds. The reasoning for this is that red wines are bolder and need more room for the aromas to emerge. What it means in practice is that if you’re filling one up, you’re drinking 12 or 14 ounces of wine at once.
Here are some ways to decrease the amount of wine you drink. If you like to finish off the entire bottle at once – because it won’t fit in the fridge or you’re afraid it won’t stay fresh, or simply because you like wine that much – try buying smaller bottles. A 750-ml bottle holds five five-ounce servings, but you can now buy 375 ml and 187 ml bottles instead. Buy smaller glasses. They might not be the “proper” glass for the type of wine you’re drinking, but this can prevent you from thinking you’re having a single drink when in reality it’s more like two servings. Drink water in between. This will not only keep you hydrated and reduce the chance of a hangover, it’ll fill you up and prevent you from drinking the entire bottle.
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