London - It might seem a harmless tipple for grannies and great aunts, but a glass of sherry on Christmas Day could be followed by a terrible hangover.
In fact, sherry and port provide the optimum way of getting very drunk very fast, says Dr Hal Sosabowski, a professor of public understanding of science at Brighton University.
He blamed the fact that they contain a relatively high volume of alcohol and get into the bloodstream easily, unlike stronger spirits such as whisky that can overpower cells in the stomach wall, slowing entry into the bloodstream.
“It is to do with the concentration,” Sosabowski said.
“Beer, for example is about five percent maximum. You have to drink quite a lot to get drunk. At the other end of the spectrum you’ve got whisky, which is about 40 percent.
“In the middle is sherry and port - the optimum way of getting drunk very fast... because it’s about 20 percent and doesn’t inhibit its own uptake.”
Sparkling wine is also a no-no.
Sosabowski said: “Alcohol which is carbonated increases its uptake, so you can feel the first glass of champagne working on you in maybe 30 seconds.”
In related news, scientists previously said they've found a remedy for banging headaches and crippling nausea which is likely to actually help – and tastes nice too.
They recommend a drink made from two-thirds pear, a quarter sweet lime and a tenth coconut water.
The cure might work particularly well with a salad sandwich – as cheese, cucumber and tomatoes also super-charge enzymes that break down a toxic by-product of alcohol in the blood.