Beer and Wine - Relative Hangovers?

Quite the opposite with me. I drink wine rarely, mind you, and not the good stuff, and usually to excess (it goes down so easy its hard not to get carried away). But some of my worst vomiting/headache/hangovers have involved wine, though not necessarily wine exclusively...maybe some beers, followed by some wine, followed by some whiskey that happens to be lying around, followed by another bottle of wine that we dug out of the cellar...which you drink straight out of the bottle, since all the wine glasses are broken or have cigarette butts floating in them...you know how it is, I'm sure.

 

I never drink wine, and beer doesn't usually get me hung over.

$12-a-handle vodka is a different story.

 

i'm nursing a raging bachelor party induced hangover right now.

 

Wine tends to give a lot of people I know nasty hangovers and I attribute it largely to the high amount of sugar, which also aids in dehydration which, as I understand it, is one of the root cause of 'hangovers'.

Alcohol is a psuedo-diuretic which basically means that you're going to have a hard time keeping hydrated. Interestingly enough, if you were to drink an extremely absurd amount of water in a short time, you could also replicate the effect of alcohol drunkeness- This works because all the excess water thins your blood, impairing it's ability to deliver oxygen, which is essentially what alcohol does. It suffocates you, in a matter of speaking.

As far as I'm concerned the best hangover cure is spanikopita- My medical student friend explained to me that one of the vitamins or minerals that spinach is extremely loaded with (K, I think? or is it iron) is a very good therapy for your thinned out blood.

Caffeine can also be a short term pick-me-up, but since it is a diuretic, it should be consumed with a bit of caution, as it can actually increase your hangover. For whatever reason, green tea (which has a mild amount of caffeine) works for me.

 

Oh yeah, some people's red wine based 'hangovers' are really a reaction to sulphites- Which, for some people, is one of the best reasons to drink american reds, as they almost never have sulphites. Suphites are useful as a preservative, and as I understand it, the FDA requires that all imported wines contain some sort of preservative agent, most commonely sulphite, as it is dirt cheap. Usually, the label will tell you if sulphites have been used.

 

you know nancyb, have you ever considered brewer's yeast allergy as an explanation? Popped into my head as I was in the middle of not answering your question at all. Also, people with gluten issues (you would probably already know if you were one) can't drink beer.

Also, sulphites are commonly found in beer and wine coolers, as well.

 

oh yeah, the vitamins thread reminded me that many people at my gym swear by colliodal minerals as a hangover cure.

 

Red wine is about the only drink that can give me a hangover. Never gotten it from beer.

 

You'll have to put a little more effort into beer drinking.

 

All the more reason to drink the hard stuff. (Jack Daniels? Table for two?)

Nancyb, you could have a mild food intolerance to any number of things that beer is made of. Yeast, hops, barley... do you have any problems digesting grains in general? That would be a telltale sign.

 

Oh, trust me, I've tried and tried.
I think my problem is that my body processes beer much faster than what's considered healthy (as in get drunk easily) but it also exits my body faster.

With wine, I'm usually drinking slower.

BTW, from what I understand, sake does not give you a hang over, though I obviously can't tell you from experience.

 

There is no alcohol that won't give you a hangover, but there are some people who believe that the production process or ingredients of certain alcohols result in lower level of free radicals and other toxins, which may result in a less severe or non-existant hangover. Rice wine is one of those, and I hear this attributed to some vodkas, gins and other stuff as well.

I know in high school I was convinced that Southern Comfort didn't give you hangovers, but looking back, my lack of hangovers probably had more to do with how I drank it- Mixed with a decent amount of ice water, it tasted a lot like iced tea to me.

 

Tequila. Dear lord, tequila.

But wine is much worse for me than beer.

Hi, Nancy, by the way.

 

A general rule to avoid a big hang over is to not mix the different types of alcohol- NEVER NEVER drink Beer and Wine on a night out. Stick to beer or stick to wine

 

That's a another myth. There's absolutlely no scientific explanation for this. Alcohol is alcohol is alcohol. That's just a fact of chemistry.

I think the reason this myth gets perpetuated is that the times people tend to mix different alcohols are often the times they tend to overindulge. In other words, it's the amount of alcohol, not the kind of drinks you are drinking that make you sick.

 

I'm not so sure about the "stick to one drink-beer or wine" rule, but the "beer before liquor never been sicker" rule is definately one to live by.

If you're drunk before you start hitting the hard stuff, it goes down a lot smoother. So you end up doing more shots than you should, and that's when bad things happen.

 

It may be like ZP says, that its a myth which came out of people overindulging on the occasions they mix their drinks all up, but its a myth supported by my own anecdotal experience, and I'm sticking to it.

 

I drink beer and wine , and get no hangover with wine.

With beer, i get hungover with Draft beer.
If i drink a few pints of say, Stella Artois chances are i'll be hungover the next day. Give me bottles of the same beer, and even if i drink more, i won't get a hangover...I don't know if it's chemicals or what, bottles seem to be less harsh on my system.