Small Steps to Health

Are You Short and Wide or a Tall and Skinny Glass Person?

January 29th, 2008 by asithi · No Comments

Tagged Healthy Eating

According to a study by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, people pour more into short, wide glasses than tall, skinny glasses. On average, people pour 19% more into short glasses regardless of the type of drink.*

I tried this experiment at home. Since I already know about this theory, I was careful when pouring into a short, wide tumbler and a tall, skinny glass. Then I pour each of them into a glass measuring cup, and I was off by 2 oz (more juice in the short, wide tumbler). I even convince my husband to give this a try, by telling him to pour the same amount of juice into each glass (sometimes I know he thinks I am nuts). I figure he would be better at this since he used to be a bar tender. Turns out he was off by approximately 0.75 oz (again more juice in the short, wide tumbler).

It is the optical illusion of the short glass that makes us think we are not pouring out as much liquid as the taller glass. I have always loved looking at optical illusions, but I have not given it much thought in my day to day activities. Unfortunately, my cupboards are mostly full of short, wide tumblers. I have a tendency to break all the tall, skinny ones. They slip out of my hands easily when I am washing them.

So for the last few days, I have been pouring out ¾ the amount of juice into my tumblers instead of filling it close to the brim. I find that I am just as satisfy with this amount of juice than the amount I had before I was consciously aware of how much juice I am pouring out. Give this a try. Let me know if you notice the same thing.

*Data from “Women’s Health & Wellness 2005” from the Editors of Health Magazine.

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