Dark drinks, like red wine and bourbon, have more congeners than light ones and there are several studies to show that for a given level of blood alcohol, dark drinks produce worse hangovers.
Want to gain an edge over plain old water to treat your hangover? Consider reaching for Gatorade, Pedialyte, Powerade, or a similar nonfizzy sports drink.
But a study by the British Medical Journal found that vodka is actually the least likely drink to give you a hangover: it's so pure that it contains virtually no congeners. Mixing vodka with soda or fruit juice is ideal, as sugary soft drinks can contribute to a headache the morning after the night before.
“Hangover research indicates the more congeners in the intoxicating drink, the more likely the hangover,” she says. “At least two studies show more severe hangover symptoms occur when drinking darker liquors, such as bourbon whiskey, with very high congener content.”
Congeners are found in larger amounts in dark liquors, such as brandy and bourbon, than in clear liquors, such as vodka and gin. Congeners are more likely to produce a hangover or increase the severity of a hangover. But drinking too much alcohol of any color can still make you feel bad the next morning.
Throwing up when drunk or in the morning after a night of drinking is not a disease. Instead, it signifies that the body is getting rid of toxins in the alcohol. Typically, a person will naturally feel better after throwing up from drinking.
With that said, low-quality spirits certainly do not help matters and can definitely lead to more severe hangovers than their top-shelf counterparts. With more impurities (mainly congeners and trace alcohols), low-quality spirits will act as more of a toxic/poison that most people are unable to metabolise quickly.
For men, five to seven cocktails over a four to six hour period almost invariably leads to a hangover. Women tend to have the same result after three to five drinks. The symptoms of a hangover will peak when your BAC goes back to zero, around 12 hours after your drink.
While rum has a relatively small amount of methanol congeners (up to 131mg/L), it has about 3,633mg/L of propanol congeners, the highest amount of propanol of any alcohol on this list. For this reason, it can be one of the worst types of alcohol for a hangover.
Some alcoholics prefer to drink vodka because it is clear and looks like water, and it doesn't have the strong odors that other alcoholic beverages have. Just because someone prefers vodka doesn't mean they're an alcoholic.
No food can erase the effects of a night of drinking alcohol, but the best hangover foods are hydrating and anti-inflammatory. Rest helps, too. Try to avoid greasy foods, sugar, and caffeine which can make your symptoms worse. Instead, stick to water and foods like bananas and crackers.
"When you're hungover, you need to hydrate your body. The way you feel – that headache – it's mostly caused by dehydration. Something like Coca-Cola has lots of sugar and fluids and will put those back into your body to get your energy levels up. The caffeine will also give you an energy boost."
A throbbing headache, feeling groggy, worn out and weak? There are many tips and tricks to get rid of a hangover as soon as possible after a long night out. The right breakfast, fresh air and lots of water. This helps both inside and out: a shower after a long night of drinking can truly work wonders.
Hangover symptoms tend to ease up over eight to 24 hours. Your body has to clear the toxic byproducts of alcohol, rehydrate, heal tissue and restore functions and activity to normal.
When Does a Hangover Peak and How Long Does It Last? Hangover symptoms peak when the blood alcohol concentration in the body returns to about zero. The symptoms can last 24 hours or longer.
For example, the liver will be overworking to process alcohol, you'll be tired from little and/or poor quality sleep, you're likely to be urinating more as alcohol is a diuretic, leaving you dehydrated and headache-y – and any post-night out vomiting can irritate the stomach for several days.'
"A glass of water when you first wake up will help you rehydrate from the night before," says Beaver. "If you got to the point of vomiting, drinking Gatorade and Pedialyte are good choices to help replenish the lost electrolytes."
Out of the 11 popular tipples in the 'Hangover Severity' scale, red wine comes in at third place. Just behind Brandy or Bourbon, and high-sugar mixes. Champagne is the sixth culprit, just after Rum and Whiskey. And white wine ranks low at eighth place, behind Beer.
The short answer is yes, because there are less congeners (by-products to make the vodka) than you will find in whisky, bourbon or even beer and so a hangover from vodka is not as intense as other spirits.