stories : Nagging Question
 |
Dark Liquor, Never SickerDo dark spirits cause worse hangovers? |
Is it true that dark-colored liquors like bourbon give you a worse hangover than clear ones like vodka? If so, why?
The thinking on this is divided. Roger Boulton, a fermentation and distillation chemistry expert and professor in the University of California–Davis’ Viticulture & Enology Department, says they don’t. “The current thinking is that dehydration is responsible for hangover,” he says. Drinking equal amounts of identical-proof vodka and cognac will get you just as drunk, and will make you equally hungover the next morning, he says.
However there is also the belief, voiced in a 2000 study of hangover research in the Annals of Internal Medicine, that brown liquors do cause worse hangovers. The reason? Alcohols in the booze other than ethanol, commonly referred to as congeners.
A distiller tries to isolate the “good” alcohol, or ethanol, from the “impurities,” including congeners, contained in the soupy fermented material he’s distilling (corn, barley, or rye for whiskey; sugarcane for rum; etc.). These include methanol, or wood alcohol, which can make you go blind if you drink too much of it, and a group of compounds called fusel oils. The distiller will do this by throwing out the first and last parts of what comes out of the still (known as the heads and tails), and in some cases by redistilling the alcohol to strip it further.
Though all liquor, regardless of whether it’s destined to be cognac, whiskey, or vodka, comes out of the still clear (barrel aging turns it brown but doesn’t add any congeners), distillers making brown liquors usually don’t strip their booze of as many of the impurities as those making a clear spirit. While vodka in particular is supposed to be flavorless, and odorless, brown spirits don’t have to live up to such a standard of purity. Congeners, although they might cause worse hangovers, all produce flavor. And when it comes to brown spirits, that’s a good thing.
ALL alcohol is tasty.
My thinking goes... drinking cognac, whiskey will give less of a hangover than vodka... why... because drinkers are more likely to drink cognac and whiskey striaght up while vodka is many times mixed.
A hangover is caused primarily by dehydration from alcohol. No matter what you drink, if you drinks tons of water before you go to bed, you'll have less of a hangover the next morning. Darker liquors also tend to be higher in sugar, also contributing to the dehydration factor. I got this from a doctor I used to work for.
Kudos for this research. IMHO, the bottom line is:
In my long years of experience with drinking, there is no such thing as a "worse" or "better" hangover. If you drink any liquor excessively, you'll be dehydrated and thou shalt suffer. Drinking a 1.5 lt bottle of water during a crazy night out usually alleviates *some* of the hangover the next day - for me.
All I know is the following:
Eat BEFORE you go out will help - not at 2:00 AM
Drink the water. Drink the booze. Drink the water. Drink booze.
I agree w/ Joanie -Stay away from sugary stuff (sometimes even too much vino....), or margaritas, pina coladas, even cosmos - UGH. The sugar is brutal.
While it may sound strange, pedialyte freezer pops are great after a long night of boozing. They help replace the electrolytes in your body and rehydrate you. And perhaps you can pass it off like you are just having a popsicle at 2am.....maybe.
ive heard that bout the pedialyte pops. havent tried tho. other than that, i pretty much feel like everyone else here - that the dehydration and the sugar are the culprits. mixing the booze with a lot of coke, etc thru the night will be brutal on the system. think about it: itd be like downing 5-6 cans of soda in a few hours of pretty much sitting around. doesnt sound too good, does it?
Pedialyte is just a less sugary, and therefore better, version of Gatorade, which is of course a standard hangover remedy. Water of course is key. When I have parties, I always buy a flat of little individual bottles of water. People can alternate them with drinks, and they definitely drink more water when it's presented this way than if you just put a jug out. Also, make sure everyone is handed something good to eat the moment they walk in the door, so no one is drinking on an empty stomach. And keep the Gatorade around for the morning, just in case.
From long experience in university and beyond: lots of water - lots of water! - before you go to bed. (If you pass out before that, well, you're in trouble) Also, one aspirin before you go to bed. Ideally, you're not so drunk that if you have to go to the bathroom during the night, you'll wake up rather than wet the bed, and if you do so - DRINK MORE WATER! Then, in the morning, tomato juice - this helps restore electrolytes. Whenever I"ve been able to follow these rules, I've never had a problem with hangovers.