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"Shots are having a moment: The hip-hop duo LMFAO&amp;amp;#8217;s song &amp;amp;#8220;Shots&amp;amp;#8221; mentions the word&amp;amp;#8212;wait for it&amp;amp;#8212;77 times; the cast of MTV&amp;amp;#8217;s The Real World tosses back two or three shots, plus liquor chasers, on an average night out; and there&amp;amp;#8217;s even vodka eyeballing&amp;amp;#8212;the trend of pouring vodka into your eye on the (totally false) theory that it gets you drunker quicker. Scary! So we wondered, How do shots affect your health? Are they any worse than a glass of pinot?Women told us plenty of reasons they love shots. But are we all just wearing &amp;amp;#8220;tequila goggles&amp;amp;#8221;? See for yourself.&amp;amp;#8220;With shots, I can drink like a guy.&amp;amp;#8221;Having a few rounds of shots, says Nikki, 28, &amp;amp;#8220;can be a fun throwback to college-type bonding with my guy friends.&amp;amp;#8221; The problem: &amp;amp;#8220;We metabolize alcohol differently than men,&amp;amp;#8221; says Dafna Kanny, Ph.D., senior scientist in the alcohol program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. &amp;amp;#8220;It takes longer for women&amp;amp;#8217;s bodies to break down the alcohol, because we have less water and less of an alcohol-metabolizing enzyme, so more liquor reaches the bloodstream.&amp;amp;#8221;&amp;amp;#8220;Shots won&amp;amp;#8217;t make me gain weight.&amp;amp;#8221;Callie, 24, echoed the sentiment of many women: &amp;amp;#8220;I save calories by ordering a shot instead of a mixed drink.&amp;amp;#8221; It&amp;amp;#8217;s true&amp;amp;#8212;a margarita is about 500 calories; a shot of tequila, only 100&amp;amp;#8212;so if you stop at one, you will come out ahead. &amp;amp;#8220;But many women think, I can have five shots for the same calories as a cocktail,&amp;amp;#8221; says Jeffrey Parsons, Ph.D., an addiction psychologist at Hunter College in New York City. And remember, a shot is 1.5 ounces. &amp;amp;#8220;Most people pour more than that,&amp;amp;#8221; says Parsons. &amp;amp;#8220;They aren&amp;amp;#8217;t using shot glasses; they&amp;amp;#8217;re using highballs!&amp;amp;#8221;&amp;amp;#8220;Sweet shots aren&amp;amp;#8217;t that strong.&amp;amp;#8221;At celeb hot spot Prime One Twelve in Miami, the Kamikaze (vodka, triple sec and lime juice) is &amp;amp;#8220;one of the most popular lady faves,&amp;amp;#8221; says bartender Olga Martinez. Beate Kiser, bar manager at New York&amp;amp;#8217;s Beauty &amp;amp; Essex, says women also like Starbursts (a mix of five different flavors of vodka). Cinya, 26, explains why: &amp;amp;#8220;Sweet shots don&amp;amp;#8217;t taste strong. I assumed straight shots were much more potent.&amp;amp;#8221; Not true&amp;amp;#8212;Kamikazes, for example, clock in at 34 percent alcohol; a Chocolate Cake shot (vodka and Frangelico) contains 40 percent alcohol, the same as Patron tequila. To put that in perspective, wine has 12 percent alcohol; beer, 5 percent.&amp;amp;#8220;A little alcohol is healthy for you.&amp;amp;#8221;The heart-healthy benefits of one drink a day have made plenty of headlines. But when it comes to shots, says Parsons, &amp;amp;#8220;the sudden rush of alcohol doesn&amp;amp;#8217;t give your liver as much time to process it, possibly causing more damage.&amp;amp;#8221; Bottom line: The occasional shot&amp;amp;#8212;fine. Round after round spells only trouble."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/2011/06/the-truth-about-the-shots-craze>