It’s been researched: gin and tonic barely gives you a hangover
A little thirsty from all that cold outside? Of course, a nice drink will keep even the coldest cucumber warm. So pour yourself that tipple. And what you especially want to drink then is a gin and tonic. Our colleagues at Amazyine discovered that, according to the world’s drinks experts (what a job), a gin and tonic barely gives you a hangover. And this is why.
Go gin
The spirit is mixed with tonic, yes, and that’s why your hangover is less severe the next day. The more water it contains, the better it is for your stomach. The sugar in the tonic also keeps your stomach a little more occupied, which means you suffer less from that nausea. And there’s more. Several researchers confirm that light drinks give you less severe hangovers than dark drinks. Bourbon, for example, contains no fewer than 37 more chemicals than vodka, which is very light in colour, just like gin. These are toxic substances that make you feel hungover, such as acetone. Researchers had one group of people drink either bourbon or vodka and then looked at the symptoms of a hangover the following day. Take three guesses who were worse off. It makes sense that these light drinks are so popular, then.
Beloved drink
The Netherlands is officially the sixth-largest gin-consuming country in the world, and we drink an average of one bottle per person per year. Gin, that is—we haven’t even mentioned beer, wine and all the other nasties. Only the Philippines, the United States, Spain, England and India rank above us in this distinguished list. It is also a descendant of Dutch jenever, so it’s understandable that it’s so popular here. Still, there’s one country above us: in England, they drink more than a billion gin and tonics a year. We could still learn a thing or two from them.
In any case, here are some useful facts for everyone planning to do a ‘Wet January’:
- Cheaper drinks aren’t necessarily worse for your hangover than expensive drinks. There you go—that’ll save you a few euros.
- It can take a day to get over your hangover. Sleeping a lot helps, but you don’t drink water while you sleep, even though that’s what your body needs most.
- Eating greasy food afterwards, when you’re already tipsy, doesn’t make much sense according to toxicologists.
- Taking paracetamol before going to sleep doesn’t help. Sorry.
- A glass of water with lemon doesn’t help with that headache either.
- Neither does cola. In fact, the only thing that helps is drinking less alcohol. And drinking lots and lots of water in between.
- The most effective way to prevent a hangover? According to researchers, there’s only one good answer: drink water between your alcoholic indulgences. Then you’ll still have something left of your Sunday, the day after.
Cheers, then.
Also read:
- Recipe: Gin and tonic oysters
- Do you love gin and Prosecco? Then you should definitely try ginsecco
- Just make your own gin, why not
