We all know how difficult it can be to say no to a comforting glass of red wine, especially during the colder months.
But the key to drinking less alcohol could lie in taking a trip down memory lane, according to a study.
Experts have discovered that working out how many calories were consumed during your last drinking session can lower your desire for a tipple.
But so far the effect has only been recorded in women.
Previous research has found that people don’t eat as much food when they are reminded of an earlier meal just before tucking in.
A team from the University of Portsmouth wanted to further investigate the relationship between memory and consumption, but with alcohol instead.
Their study involved 50 women aged 18 to 46-years-old who were randomly split into two groups.
The first group were asked to recall a recent alcohol experience in detail, including guessing how many calories they had consumed.
For example, three medium glasses of red wine would come to nearly 400 calories, while three pints of pale ale would come to 540 calories.
The second group, the control, were simply asked to recall a car journey.
Participants were then asked to consume a vodka-based drink, at a rate that felt comfortable to them, while watching a mood-neutral TV program to distract them from any suspicion that their rate of consumption was being recorded.
Analysis revealed that individuals who were asked to recall a previous drinking episode took longer to consume the alcoholic beverage.
This, the researchers said, suggests a lower motivation for alcohol.
Dr Lorenzo Stafford, one of the study authors, said: ‘Following on from previous work, we think an important part of the observed effect was that individuals in the alcohol memory cue condition had to estimate the number of alcohol calories they consumed.
‘Our theory is that females may have had less desire for alcohol because they wish to avoid excess calories, which could also be linked to work showing that females are more likely to change their consumption habits because they are more receptive to the risks alcohol poses to health and weight.’
It is estimated that more than a quarter of drinkers consume more than the recommended 14 units a week in England.
The paper, published in the journal Food Quality and Preference, recommends further research to help understand the alcohol memory effect in males, especially as they typically consume more alcohol than females.
In two related studies, the same team found that strong health warning labels on alcohol products also reduced desire for alcohol and slowed drinking rates.
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