The pursuit of avoiding a hangover is as previous as alcohol itself. Ancient Romans swore by fried canary and sheep’s lungs, whereas the Irish suggested burying your self in moist sand as much as your neck. But one perpetrator that entails no added value or threat of bathroom lung tends to resurface across the holidays: congeners in alcohol.
What are they? Does consuming drinks low in congeners really work? Or is that this an previous (and sure hungover) wives’ story? Let’s check out what the science says.
What Are Congeners?
When grapes or grain are fermented, they produce alcohol — together with byproducts often called congeners. These embrace chemical substances like methanol, acetone, and tannins, which contribute to the colour, odor, and style of an alcoholic beverage, says Gillian Teitz, MS, a biochemist and host of the habit science podcast Sober Powered.
What Alcohols Have The Most Congeners?
Light-colored alcohols include fewer congeners. Examples embrace:
- Vodka
- Gin
- Rum
- White wine
- Light beers
Dark-colored alcohols include extra congeners. These embrace:
- Bourbon
- Whiskey
- Red wine
- Dark beers
What Causes Hangovers?
Here’s a reality worthy of a spit take: Scientists nonetheless don’t absolutely perceive what causes a hangover. It appears a bit loopy when you think about the familiarity of hangover signs — nausea, headache, fatigue, nervousness, shakiness, and occasional prayers for demise.
An early concept — dehydration — is now thought of a separate symptom of an evening of extreme ingesting. Although alcohol is a diuretic (substances that enhance urine manufacturing), some research discovered that individuals who skilled hangover signs weren’t dehydrated.
The present prevailing clarification entails alcohol metabolism. When we devour alcohol (a.okay.a. ethanol), the physique’s first precedence turns into breaking it down and eliminating it from the physique. Initially, the liver turns ethanol right into a substance known as acetaldehyde, which is believed to be 10 to 30 instances extra poisonous than alcohol. Acetaldehyde is then damaged down into innocent acetate and water, which is eradicated via urine.
How Do Congeners Affect Hangovers?
The concept continues: The longer alcohol and acetaldehyde stay within the physique, the extra harm they will do, and the more serious your hangover might be. Congeners are believed to compete with ethanol for the physique’s processing bandwidth, and this can lead to alcohol hanging round longer whereas congeners are damaged down, says Teitz.
Some research have discovered that high-congener drinks could cause worse hangovers than low-congener drinks.
“It can be concluded that alcoholic drinks that contain more congeners produce more severe alcohol hangovers,” wrote authors of a overview of research within the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism. “Moreover, a recent survey showed it takes fewer high-congener drinks to get a hangover, while at the same time the severity of these hangovers is most pronounced.”
It’s all concerning the alcohol
So, to keep away from a hangover, simply stick with low-congener drinks? Good luck discovering a physician or scientist who will advocate it. Experts are fairly unanimous: The greatest contributor to a hangover isn’t congeners. It’s alcohol itself.
“If you drink enough alcohol, you will get a hangover,” says Teitz. “While the amount of congeners present may slightly worsen a hangover, a hangover is caused by the quantity of alcohol you have consumed.”
“The few experimental studies indicate that the highest congener beverage (bourbon) results in more severe hangover ratings than does the beverage with essentially no congeners (vodka),” wrote authors of a overview of analysis printed in Current Drug Abuse Reviews. “Although, ethanol effects per se had a considerably stronger effect on hangover than did congener content.”
After all, it’s primarily alcohol, not congeners, that causes probably the most bothersome bodily results we affiliate with hangovers: It can irritate your abdomen (resulting in nausea or different GI upset), can impression blood sugar steadiness (making you are feeling weak or shaky), and may contribute to bodywide irritation and sleep disruption (which may make you are feeling fatigued, achy, or simply usually awful).
How Do You Avoid A Hangover?
Just about everybody who’s tied on one too many has a suggestion on keep away from a hangover after overindulging. These can vary from fundamental (simply drink water!) to pretty elaborate. For instance, Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi swears by a pre-bedtime ritual of 1,000 mg of Vitamin C, one liter of water, and an egg-and-cheese sandwich.
But, based on medical science, the official reply is that this: There’s no trickery that may rescue you. “In several studies, no effective method of hangover prevention was found,” stated Daniel Okay. Hall-Flavin, MD, an habit psychiatrist on the Mayo Clinic. “The only sure way to prevent a hangover is to drink in moderation or not drink at all.”
How the consultants outline moderation: No greater than two alcoholic drinks a day for males and no a couple of for girls.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, one drink is equal to:
- 12 ounces of normal or mild beer; roughly one can (5% alcohol)
- 8 to 9 ounces of malt liquor or many varieties of craft beers; about half a pint glass (7% alcohol).
- 5 ounces of desk wine; about one glass (12% alcohol).
- 1.5 ounces of liquor; roughly one shot (40% alcohol).
“The best thing you can do to avoid a hangover is to drink less alcohol,” says Teitz, “or weigh the pros and cons and decide that the hangover is worth it.”