Clear your head
before happy hour. Stress kills men’s self-control—and could make you drink more, suggests a new study from the Netherlands.
Scientists asked two groups of men and women to perform a task before drinking alcohol. One was a brain-buster meant to tax the subjects’ minds, mimicking a tough day at work. Guys who took that test not only guzzled more booze than men who performed the easier exercise, they drank four times more than women who completed the hard task.
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Why? Self-control is like a glass of water, says study author Roy Otten, Ph.D. Challenging work projects drain your glass throughout the day, so when 5 p.m. rolls around, chances are that it’s pretty empty. And that lack of self-control makes your other glasses empty quicker—and more frequently—at the bar.
Women don’t have the same problem because their metabolisms work differently, Otten says. Ladies may naturally go into awareness mode when their self-control supply is depleted, so they drink less.
So how can you leave happy hour without seeing double? In a second experiment, researchers asked half the participants to track how many drinks they knocked back. Guys who kept tabs drank significantly less than those who didn’t. Otten says being more aware of your choices, even when you’re low on self-control, makes you evaluate those choices more closely.
Another tip: Avoid opening a tab, leave your credit card in the car, and walk into the bar with $20 in your pocket. Once the cash is gone, it’s time to go.
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Article source: http://www.menshealth.com/health/stress-drinking
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