{"id":45136,"date":"2016-05-29T09:15:19","date_gmt":"2016-05-29T13:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=45136"},"modified":"2021-05-18T04:49:59","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T08:49:59","slug":"beer-before-liquor-drinking-alcohol-myths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/beer-before-liquor-drinking-alcohol-myths\/","title":{"rendered":"Beer Before Liquor and Other Biggest Booze Myths, Busted"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Beer
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By now you know the truth<\/a> about whether a post-workout beer will sabotage your gains. And you\u2019re also aware that science shows<\/a> you drink more alcohol on gym days. But when it comes to the world of spirits, questions about alcohol\u2019s impact on your health still abound. To make sense of it all, we took a deep dive into our liquor cabinets to do some investigating.<\/p>\n

Here, we present the ultimate clear liquor vs. dark liquor smackdown (plus, we got the final word on the whole \u2018beer before liquor\u2019 debate). Now you\u2019ll know what to consider next time the bartender asks what you\u2019re having.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>9 Cocktail Recipes Under 200 Calories<\/a><\/p>\n

Clear vs. Dark Liquor: Which Gives You a Worse Hangover?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You can\u2019t fully<\/em> blame your morning-after discomfort on the color of the spirits you had the night before, but evidence shows dark liquor may be more likely to result in a hangover. Take this 2009 study<\/a> in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research<\/em>, which examined the hangover-inducing potential of bourbon and vodka. \u201cThe hangover was more intense after getting drunk on bourbon as opposed to the same amount of vodka,\u201d says study author Damaris J. Rohsenow<\/a>, PhD, Professor and Associate Director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>The Ultimate Hangover Helper Smoothie Recipe<\/a><\/p>\n

“Your body absorbs alcohol from effervescent [bubbly] drinks more quickly.”<\/p>\n

You can thank the congeners in spirits for your post-drinking pain. \u201cCongeners are toxins such as acetone, histamines and tannins,\u201d says Dr. Rohsenow. \u201cThey occur in alcoholic beverages, mostly as a result of the processes used in fermenting and aging, or are leached from the oak barrels.\u201d Although they\u2019re only slightly toxic in the small amounts found in booze, experts believe congeners are to blame for typical hangover symptoms.<\/p>\n

Gin and vodka have the least congeners while bourbon and scotch have the most, says Dr. Rohsenow, and dark liquors have more than clear ones in general. But that doesn\u2019t mean you can go to town on gin and tonics and come away unscathed. \u201cWe found that the biggest determinant of getting hung-over was the alcohol intoxication itself,\u201d says Dr. Rohsenow. While alcohol tolerance varies from person to person, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism<\/a> recommends no more than one drink per day for women and two for men.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Science Shows You Drink More Alcohol on Gym Days<\/a><\/p>\n

Will Beer Before Liquor Really Make You Sicker?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You know the old saying: \u201cBeer before liquor, never been sicker. Liquor before beer, you\u2019re in the clear.\u201d Well, it\u2019s time for some myth busting. \u201cPeople believe a lot about the supposed effects of different beverages,\u201d says David J. Hanson<\/a>, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Sociology of the State University of New York at Potsdam. \u201cIf you think a drink will make you react in a certain way, it very likely will.\u201d In other words, you can mostly chalk up this rumor to the power of the mind, Hanson says. Another factor: People tend to down liquor but sip beer. \u201cIf anything, drinking liquor first might do more damage because of greater speed of drinking,\u201d says Dr. Rohsenow.<\/p>\n

The one grain of truth in this adage is that if you drink a lot<\/em> of beer before indulging in a lot<\/em> of liquor, you very well could get sick. \u201cYour body absorbs alcohol from effervescent [bubbly] drinks more quickly,\u201d says Dr. Hanson. \u201cIf you have a high-proof spirit after that, you might get a higher spike in blood alcohol content.\u201d But again, it\u2019s more about how much you\u2019re drinking than the order you drink it in. If you drink enough, you\u2019ll probably get ill either way.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> How Many Calories Are in Your Cocktail? [INFOGRAPHIC]<\/a><\/p>\n

Which Booze Is Better for Your Health?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

So, if you\u2019re watching your calorie intake, should your go-to drink include dark liquor, or clear? \u201cThe difference is negligible,\u201d says Kelly Pritchett<\/a>, PhD, RD, CSSD, Assistant Professor in Nutrition and Exercise Science at Central Washington University. According to the USDA<\/a>, a 1.5-ounce shot of any 86-proof liquor has 105 calories. But, keep in mind that the higher the proof, the higher the calories (one gram of alcohol contains about seven calories). \u201cA 1.5-ounce shot of an 86-proof whiskey contains 105 calories, while an 80-proof vodka or gin contains 97,\u201d says Dr. Pritchett.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, there\u2019s also the fact that too much alcohol<\/a> can do everything from disrupt your sleep to bring about inflammation<\/a> \u2014 neither of which are great for your waistline. The bottom line: if you\u2019re really concerned about your health, keep your drinking moderate, no matter what color the liquor happens to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Should you shun scotch or go off gin? We asked experts to weigh in on how different spirits affect your health \u2014 and whether beer before liquor really makes you sicker. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7],"tags":[28,44,341,343],"class_list":["post-45136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","tag-alcohol","tag-drinks","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2exercise"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45136\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}