This was tested scientifically

Dec 19, 2009 11:26 GMT  ·  By
Darker-colored alcohol causes more severe hangovers than drinks such as vodka
   Darker-colored alcohol causes more severe hangovers than drinks such as vodka

Brown University experts have just finished conducting their head-on comparison of alcohol types, and the effects that each of them cause in drinkers the morning after. According to the work, details of which have been accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of the scientific journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, darker liquors, such as bourbon, tend to cause worse hangovers than lighter-colored drinks, such as vodka. The investigation was led by BU expert Damaris Rohsenow.

Wired reports that the new results do not imply that those consuming vodka are out of the woods. On the contrary, regardless of the type of alcohol you consume, hangovers still affect your abilities to respond quickly and to pay attention. However, the experts say that it's absolutely necessary to gain a better understanding of the lingering effects that a night of drinking has on the next morning. There are many people who engage in safety-sensitive activities such as driving after a night out, and they could be endangering others, even if unwillingly.

The paper also revealed that the quality of sleep was equally diminished in test subjects, regardless of the type of alcohol they consumed. However, there was a clear difference when it came to the symptoms associated with hangovers, in the case of bourbon drinkers. On a scale that ranked factors such as headache, nausea, loss of appetite and thirst, they ranked their own symptoms way higher than those who consumed vodka the night before, the researchers say. One of the main reasons why these differences occur, the team adds, may be the fact that bourbon holds about 37 times more toxic compounds than vodka does. These chemicals influence us a lot more than those in lighter-colored beverages, and may be the underlying cause for the morning-after symptoms.

The experiments were conducted on 95 healthy young adults, who were all aged between 21 and 33 years old. They were divided into groups, and were given to drink caffeine-free cola mixed with bourbon, vodka, or simply tonic water. When the levels of alcohol in their breath exceeded 0.11, the team stopped giving them booze. The next day, they were subjected to tests that required attention and quick reaction times. Those who drank only tonic water performed better in all tests, but the researchers also noticed that drinkers performed the same, no matter the alcohol they consumed the night before.