Hangover-exempt people don't exist, study says

Scientists set out to crack urban myths that suggest some people don't get hangovers and that food and water can prevent them, concluding that both are essentially fables.

"In general, we found a pretty straight relationship; the more you drink, the more likely you are to get a hangover," says lead author Dr. Joris Verster of Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Springboarding on reports that claim 25 to 30 percent of drinkers don't experience hangovers, the research team gathered a month's worth of data on the drinking habits of 789 Canadian students.

Participants self-reported how much they consumed, how long their boozing sessions lasted and the severity of the ensuing hangovers.

Using the data the students provided, the research team calculated each individual's approximate blood alcohol concentration (BAC).

For 79 percent of students claiming they don't experience hangovers, their BAC was less than 0.10 percent, approximately two times the safe driving limits of 0.05 percent in most of Europe and slightly higher than the U.S. limit of 0.08 percent.

"The majority of those who in fact reported never having a hangover tended to drink less, perhaps less than they themselves thought would lead to a hangover," says Verster.

To refine the results, the team explored the relationship between alcohol and food or water, this time working with 826 Dutch students.

Responding to the team's questions about their latest boozing spree, 449 of the students, or 54.4 percent reported having eaten afterwards.

All participants were questioned about the severity of their ensuing hangovers and the team detected little to no discrepancy between those who had eaten or imbibed water and those who had not.

"Those who took food or water showed a slight statistical improvement in how they felt over those who didn't, but this didn't really translate into a meaningful difference," says Verster.

The pioneer study has implications for how to steer individuals away from alcohol abuse, the economic and social costs of which can be significant, yet controlled trials that do not rely on self-reporting are in order, according to Verster.

"Whilst further research is needed, this new research tells us that the answer is simple — ‘drink less'," says Dr. Michael Bloomfield on behalf of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ENCP).

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