A new study suggests that hangover symptoms are not as severe when drinking a light-colored alcoholic beverage compared to a darker-colored beverage. If you would like to avoid a hangover, stay away from bourbon and opt for white wine, vodka or other light colored drinks. A new study suggests that whisky, wine and beer all tend to cause more issues the next day than other drinks do.
There are many alcoholic beverages that contain by-products of materials, including woods casks and grains, which are used in the fermenting process. These byproducts are called congeners and are diverse organic molecules that have toxic effects. Bourbon has been found to have 37 times the amount of congeners than that of vodka. It has been published in the journal ‘Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research’ that darker drinks are very bad choices when it comes to alcoholic drinks and contain more chemical byproducts that lighter drinks.
To test this particular theory of colored alcoholic beverages, a study was conducted on 95 men and women. One the first night, the participants were given either vodka or bourbon to drink until reaching an alcohol level of .11. The following night, they drank the same amount of a placebo or non-alcoholic drink. Researchers found that even though those who drank the bourbon felt a lot worse than those drinking vodka, both groups of drinkers had similar levels of impairments with particular tasks.
Alcohol Colour Linked To Hangovers
Yet another common sense study.
We learned about this from Dr. Joe Swarcz in university in **1983** … 26 years ago! This is news??
It is “common sense” that color affects severity of a hangover? What, exactly, is so intuitive about that?
Ohhh, ummmm, glub, glub, glub, nom, nom, nom.
Hickup. I concur! XD
Did you know that some folks place their lips inside
the bottle opening while drinking and others place
their lips over the opening? Fascinating!
lol you’re awesome.
I once drank some vodke i got a pretty bad hangover compared to wine.
Dark coloured liquors have all kinds of impurities like methanol and lots of other junk. The clearer the alcohol, the less junk to affect you. Dark rum is one of the worst things you can drink as it is chock full of crud. Red wine gives lots of folks migraines whereas white doesn’t.
I doubt any kind of drink has methanol in it as it would just be neutralized by the ethanol.
This is a reply to “Someone”. Please don’t make comments about chemistry because you certainly don’t know what you are talking about. Look up the definition of “neutralized” in chemsitry literature. Alcohols don’t neutralize each other you dolt.
I wonder if this study was commissioned by a Vodka lobby group?
Alchohol is poison, no matter which way you slice it. If you have to get drunk to have fun, it isn’t fun.
Water can be quite toxic too, if you get enough of it.
The point here is: If you are going to stupidly drink to the excess of a goodly hangover, you should drink that flavourless bilge they call Vodak. (*grin*)
If you are going to drink in a healthy, moderate way and recieve the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption, drink what you enjoy – beverages with flavour, bocquet, and that have more subtle effects on the palate than ‘removes paint easily’. To wit, scotch, a nice mixed drink (rye and ginger, spiced rum and egg nog, dark rum and coke, etc) or a decent wine.
This study confirms what common sense already told us. Next study I expect is ‘alcohol is flamable’ or ‘ethanol is preferable to methanol’ (or other equally ‘insightful’ investigations).
Drink in moderation and drink what you enjoy. Drink to excess with any of them and you WILL suffer. My worst hangovers ever have been with Vodka or clear-looking Tequila.
Well Said. I hope there was no public money spent on this…good grief
Rothwell have a drink and relax. Alcohol when used correctly in a social setting is very nice. There are lots of people that enjoy the taste and effects.
Now this study I have to agree is among the more common sense things I have heard. Red Wine gives you a MUCH worse hangover than white wine. Dark Rum same thing you’ll feel it the next day as compared to drink White Rum.
My girlfriend swears by Vodka and Soda’s low calories and she gets some water intake.
Speaking of which will we see the next study tell us that drinking lots of water and taking 2 aspirin before bed also lesson a hangover?
No man should EVER drink alcohol due to the feminizing effects. Just read this meeting annoucement from Canada’s top seduction guru, Dimitri The Lover:
That quite the job these Researches have, funding for another useless piece of information.
Chris, you shouldn’t be taking aspirin if you’re drunk.
Very interesting study. However, I find that I don’t get hangovers from any alcohol I consume. The reason? I am a social drinker and will have only 1 or 2 drinksn and stop.
Don’t know why the rest of you get hangovers.
No, Rothwell is right. Alcohol is a poison, it rights slightly behind tobacco for causing cancer, not to mention other health issues. How about its effect of society? As much as 50% of all crime can be attributed to alcohol abuse as well as marital & family issues. So go ahead people guzzle your booze & throw you life away. At least I dont need to get loaded to enjoy life.
As much as 100% of your post can be attributed to you being stupid.
Alcohol consumption isn’t Boolean between none and “loaded” or “guzzled”.
Alcohol doesn’t cause crime or family issues. That’s the person consuming the alcohol. It lowers inhibitions, it can impair comprehension or lead to confusion, but it doesn’t plant thoughts in your mind. It may make existing problems (such as the person is a violent/criminally inclined) more obvious.
This study is a classic of “scientific” error concerning cause & effect. The difference in post-consumption effects is attributable primarily to sugar content which is invariably higher in coloured liquor. This has been known for decades if not longer. The only news in this story is that someone got funded to study this and they still managed to get the answer wrong.
What a crock………….. someone actually took the time and conducted this survey.
Actually I alwaws found that if I drank enought to get hungover it didn’t matter what I drank, the hangovers were always pretty severe.
research has found that with the “publish or peril rule” that researchers follow, that the less funding they get, ultimately the cheaper the alcohol the researchers will drink.
While conversely, the more researchers are paid, the more they will drink, and often more expensive brands, especially if specific alcohol companies are footing the bill.
Either way these individuals will act like the toxic effects and figure they know the answers to everything and even look for legitimate reasons to drink.
Cheers,
Wishing you all the best in 2009!
This is not a new discovery. I discovered this back in 1995. However, don’t be fooled by Sambuca – it’s clear, but it shouldn’t be.
LOL. At least if you said “Yet another/Finally a good enough study proves the idea that…” we could stomach this article…
News Flash:
Methanol is colourless
Red wine has less sugar than white
Pure ethanol is colourless, it can give you one hell of a hangover!
Its not the alcohol colour at all. The difference is in the sources of the sugars used in making the alcohol. Corn alcohols (bourbon) are basically made from high fructose corn syrup which breaks down into poisonous by-products in the body. Agave (tequila) sugars are still fructose but different as they are similar to honey. The sugars are not as stable and break down easier. Sugar cane (rum) breaks down into glucose without creating the same by-products but the effects are worsened when mixed with high fructose cola.
Basically the alcohol is dehydrating your brain cells and the by-products are destroying your liver.
People with sensitivities to wheat, corn, yeast, grapes or potato will find that the effects of being drunk or having a hangover can be worse when these alcohols are consumed compared to tequila.
Who PAYS these people to conduct these ridiculous studies? I am in the wrong business…
Won’t the fact that they have had alcohol in their system from the night before affect their tolerance levels during the light alcohol test?