Weekend tidbits: oh, really?

Hooray, almost weekend! Relaxing, time for your family, space to strengthen your social contacts or just do nothing. To get into that relaxation mode, you can read a selection of news and facts about the theme of alcohol today.

Your eye color determines how well or how badly you tolerate alcohol.

If we are to believe the research carried out by Georgia State University in America, then people with brown eyes appear to tolerate alcohol less than people with light eyes. Here's the thing: Dark-eyed people have more melanin. That's why they have dark eyes and their skin tends to turn brown in the sun. In addition, melanin ensures that people with brown eyes are more sensitive to alcohol.

You would think good news for team blue, but: research has also shown that people with light eyes are also more susceptible to alcoholism. 'Every advantage has its disadvantage', as a well-known former football player regularly said.

The sugar tax. Good idea or not?

From January 1, the sugar tax on soft drinks, juices and non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beer will probably increase sharply: from 8 cents to 20 cents per litre. This is to encourage people to choose healthier options, such as water. Good plan you would think. Nevertheless, good plans sometimes have snags. Because this sugar tax also applies to fruit juices without added sugar. You then pay more for the natural fruit sugars. Alcohol-free and low-alcohol beer will therefore also become more expensive -because yes, this sugar tax is passed on to the consumer one-on-one. This could influence the choice to consciously opt for non-alcoholic low-alcohol beer.

Mastering your craving. That is how it works.

Just being strong doesn't always work (by a long way) when you are overcome by a strong urge for a cigarette, bag of chips or glass of alcohol. Your mind (prefrontal cortex) loses out to the reptilian brain (it doesn't matter if it's bad, I want it now!). What you can do about this? Ensures that you put your prefrontal cortex - your mind - to work. Ask yourself more often questions such as: 'Am I really fooling myself right now?' Or: 'What do I want most?' (answer: I want a glass of alcohol now, but I would rather have a healthy body…). If you better understand how it works up there in your head, such a craving might be easier to ignore.