The severity of the morning after a night of drinking largely depends on how much alcohol you consumed. But a team of researchers at the University of Birmingham, led by Professor Sally Adams, has focused on another hangover culprit: congeners.
Congeners are chemical compounds formed during the fermentation of alcoholic beverages. They give drinks flavor and aroma — and they also influence hangovers. How bad your hangover is can depend on what you drank the night before.
As you gather around the festive table, beware of the sneaky congeners
Hangovers are unpleasant no matter what you drink. Still, many people report feeling worse after red wine than after beer.
Professor Sally Adams, who studies alcohol’s effects on the human body, says the darker the drink, the worse the hangover tends to be.
Beverages contain different amounts of congeners. Red wine and other dark drinks like brandy and rum have higher levels. Whiskey, gin, and white wine have fewer congeners, while vodka and beer have the least. “Drinks with the highest congener content can lead to more severe hangovers,” Adams said.
She pointed to a 2009 study in Nature that found bourbon contains 37 times more congeners than vodka.
A 2010 study by researchers at Brown University asked volunteers to drink caffeine-free cola, vodka, or bourbon. Those who drank bourbon reported worse hangovers than those who drank vodka, according to the Daily Mail.
Adams also said that, besides the choice of drink, several factors influence hangover symptoms: genetics, what you ate while drinking, age, and gender.
Adams says the main cause of a hangover is how much alcohol you drink, though congeners can make symptoms such as headaches worse.
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