How You Feel “The Morning After” Depends on What You Drink

Tomorrow Is New Year’s Eve.  Many of us will be celebrating the end of 2011.  Here’s a post of mine from a couple of years ago that deserves re-reading, before the celebration begins.

The main cause of a hangover is, of course, drinking too much. But a certain degree of distress depends on the type of alcohol consumed – or rather, the congeners it contains. Congeners are complex organic chemicals that are byproducts of the materials used in the fermentation process. They include such compounds as acetone, acetaldehyde, fusel oil, tannins, and furfural. Bourbon has 37 times the amount of congeners as vodka; most congeners help impart a dark color to liquor. The role and effect of congeners in alcoholic drinks has been explored in a study reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Ninety-five healthy heavy drinkers volunteered to take part in a study; there was one acclimatization night, followed by two drinking nights. The participants (58 women, 37 men, aged 21 to 33) drank bourbon or vodka on one night, and a matched placebo on the other night. They drank to an average of 0.11 g% blood alcohol level on their liquor night. Polysomnographic recordings were made overnight, and the next morning the participants reported how they felt, and completed tests of mental attention and speed.

After alcohol, the participants had more hangover symptoms and worse test results than after placebo. Bourbon produced a worse hangover, but did not cause worse test results than vodka. Alcohol effects on sleep, which correlated with the degree of hangover but not with test performance, included decreased sleep efficiency (more frequent wakings), more awake time, and more next-day sleepiness; however, these effects were the same for both types of liquor.

The bottom line: to minimize getting hangover symptoms, stick to ‘clear’ liquor (better still, water). However, poor sleep and poor performance next day – especially making rapid choices over a continuous period of time – will occur whichever type of liquor you indulge in. This has implications for driving and other safety-related occupations on ‘the morning after’.

If you really do have a hangover, have a look at an article that has some information that may help.