Study Finds Bourbon Gives You A Tougher Hangover

A few weeks ago my colleague Carrie Coolidge recommended that holiday revelers steer clear of dark liquors. A new study backs that up, finding that compared with vodka, bourbon can result in a worse hangover. The study conducted by the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University involved 95 participants, aged 21 to 33 who were heavy drinkers. The participants drank either vodka or bourbon mixed with caffeine-free cola on one night. On a separate night they unknowingly drank a placebo. After they sobered up they filled out questionnaires and performed tests. REsearchers found that the bourbon made the drinkers feel worse but did not impair their ability to perform tasks.

Congeners, byproducts of alcohol fermentation which are partly responsible for the color of the liquor, may have an effect on hangover levels. According to a report on MSNBC the amount of congeners in bourbon is 37 times the amount in vodka. The results of the study will be published in the March 2010 issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.