Everyone has this type of person in their circle of friends: the one person who is virtually immune to a hangover and can drink alcohol carefree without waking up the next morning with a hell of a headache and nausea. Enviable!
But why does one hardly feel anything from a night of drinking while others have to suffer? How a hangover manifests itself after drinking too much alcohol is individual and depends on several factors, explains University of Bristol psychologist Craig Gunn in a post for online scientific forum The Conversation.
But before we explain all these factors to you in more detail – one more question for you:
At least that is the conclusion reached by the researchers of a representative study from the Netherlands in 2017. In such studies, subjects have to rate the severity of their hangover on a scale from zero (= no negative effects after drinking alcohol) to eleven (= extremely hangover). evaluate.
Not only the amount of drunk glasses of wine, beer or schnapps plays a role – biological, genetic and even psychological effects can also play a role. In fact, British researchers found out in a study that a hangover seems least bad when you suffer with other hangovers. One or the other probably knows the effect from his student days. But let’s get down to the actual factors that influence an individual’s hangover tolerance.
According to Gunn, some study results indicate that people who carry a certain variant of the ALDH2 gene are more likely to feel a hangover the next morning than those without this gene variant. This gene is responsible for breaking down alcohol in the body. It converts acetaldehyde, which is toxic to the human body, into harmless acetate.
This process is slowed down in people who now carry a certain variant of this gene. So there is more acetaldehyde in the body for longer, which is ultimately responsible for headaches and the like – and “therefore stronger hangover symptoms,” concludes Gunn.
Gender and age also influence the misery of the next day, when you might have had too many cocktails, as Dutch researchers have been able to prove. Surprisingly, hangover severity decreases with age, regardless of the amount of alcohol consumed. This means that if you are older, you suffer from a hangover for less time. Although the personal feeling can be quite different.
The study also revealed differences in the severity of the hangover between men and women. Men often experience hangovers worse than women. These gender differences were larger in younger drinkers. Why this is so needs further research.
Because some psychological factors also play a role, as Gunn explains. Pre-existing conditions also play a role, as do some personality traits. Anyone who suffers from an anxiety disorder or depression feels a hangover differently. According to the expert, people who are exposed to high levels of stress also deal with a hangover differently.
For example, people with a neurotic disposition would tend to see the world in a negative way – and accordingly perceive a hangover as more painful than optimistic people. Scientists suggested this connection in a study from 1993, for example. However, researchers from another, more recent study were unable to prove this connection.
Anxiety, depression and stress are also associated with more severe hangovers.
“Each of these moods is associated with a ‘negative bias’ – a tendency to interpret the world in a more negative way. Our results show that even a hangover leads people to interpret the world more negatively. As a result, a hangover can amplify this negative tendency, making some people feel worse than others,” explains Gunn, who himself researches perceptions of hangover experiences.
In short: If you only harp on about how miserable you are, you will enjoy your hangover for longer. On the other hand, if you approach things positively and, for example, go out into the fresh air or swear by your own hangover recipe, such as a green smoothie, to feel better again, you will most likely feel better again more quickly.
Scientists were able to demonstrate this effect in a study from 2020. Nevertheless, the best way to avoid a hangover is and remains the same: don’t drink anything. But that’s always easier said than done.
By the way, here are a few more tips on how to get rid of the hangover:
