The rules of healthy drinking

Consider it your party season primer

Suck it up
Prevent tooth decay by slurping soft drink through a straw. Yep, researchers from the Academy of General Dentistry in the US say that popping a straw towards the back of your mouth will help save your teeth from cavities. Why? The straw directs fluid away from sensitive teeth.

Don’t drink and brush!
If you’re planning to have a few drinks, wine experts recommend that you pop a breath mint instead of brushing your teeth before you go out. “The plaque on your teeth acts as a barrier against the acid in the wine,” says Andrew Harris, wine educator for Brown Brothers. Got it.

You can mix
Researchers from Channel 9’s What’s Good For You found that mixing drinks is not necessarily to blame for your seedy hangover, but they did reveal that dark-coloured drinks (such as red wine and bourbon) have more impurities (called congeners) than light or clear coloured drinks, and it’s these impurities that will lead to a worse hangover.