Researchers have bad news for people who experience hangovers

The old popular aphorism, “Beer before wine and you’ll feel good; wine before beer and you’ll feel weird” was recently dispelled by a team of European researchers. The team conducted a study to examine whether a particular drinking order helped experience a less severe hangover. However, for the 76 percent of Americans who experience hangovers after a drinking session, the researchers have bad news. According to their study, no matter how much a person tries to alter the order in which they drink different alcoholic beverages, they will still face a hangover if they drink too much.

The difference in the order of consumption does not affect the severity of the hangover

To find a way to help people dealing with hangovers, the researchers, as part of this study, recruited 90 German people in the age group 19-40 to consume alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer, or both. After randomly dividing the participants into three groups, the researchers asked the first group to consume 16 ounces of lager beer. After this, they were asked to drink four large glasses of white wine. The second group was asked to initially drink all four glasses of white wine. After that, they were asked to consume two and a half pints of lager. The third group was made to drink white wine or lager beer. All three groups were medically supervised overnight.

The researchers waited until the hangover effects of the alcohol wore off completely and everyone fully recovered. The following week, the scientists brought everyone back together for a second round of drinking. They had the groups drink in the exact opposite order from the last time. For example, the group that drank beer first this time was forced to drink wine first, and the group that drank wine was forced to drink beer first. The third group that drank either (beer or wine) were made to drink what they did not consume the last time.

The results of the study showed no differentiation in the intensity of the hangover caused by drinking any of the alcoholic beverages (beer or wine) in a particular order. Lead author Joran Kochling, a researcher at Witten/Herdecke University, said the study disproved the old adage that if a person drinks beer before drinking wine, the hangover is less severe.

Vomiting and perceived drunkenness associated with severe hangover

Even after controlling for factors such as age, gender, body weight, frequency of hangovers, and drinking habits, no substantial differences in hangover scores were found. Women were observed to suffer from a severe hangover compared to men. Blood and urine tests were also performed to predict the intensity of the hangover, but without success.

However, there were two factors that seemed to affect the intensity of hangover symptoms the next day. These included the level of dizziness people experienced when drinking and whether they vomited. Individuals who scored highest on a scale of 1 to 10 on how drunk they felt towards the end of the binge and those individuals who vomited while or after drinking rated their hangovers as severe.

Pay attention to warning signs while drinking

According to Kochling, the truth is that drinking too much of any type of alcoholic beverage is likely to cause a hangover. He said the only way to predict how bad a hangover will be is to realize how drunk one feels and whether one feels sick. He added that every individual should be aware of these warning signs while drinking. If people ignore these warning signs at the time of drinking, dehydration, tiredness, headaches, sensitivity to light and intestinal problems, in the form of a hangover, will follow the next day.

Although the number of drinks that cause a hangover varies from person to person, a hangover means that a person has far exceeded the permissible limit set by their bodies and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). .as moderate consumption . The CDC considers one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men as moderate consumption.

Hangovers, the way nature shapes future behavior

The researchers acknowledged that this study has its own restrictions. For example, they were unable to assign a control group to consume a non-alcoholic beverage, as the participants were not interested in being part of the group that did not drink alcohol.

Co-author Dr. Kai Hensel, a senior clinical fellow at the University of Cambridge, said while hangovers are unpleasant, they have significant benefit. They act as a shield that would probably guide people over time to modify their future drinking behaviour.

Seeking help for alcoholism

It is possible for anyone to be affected by alcohol addiction, regardless of age, gender or social position. One of the stepping stones to effective recovery from alcoholism is detoxification. The detoxification process helps the body get rid of all the toxins accumulated in the body as a result of years of alcohol abuse, manage withdrawal symptoms, and prepare the body and mind for alcohol addiction treatment.