Some mornings, it can feel as if you’ve partied with Zach Galifianakis and company the night before; other times, it’s as if you stuck with water. So what exactly causes some hangovers to be worse than others—aside from the obvious? There are many reasons, and only some of them have to do with how much you decided to drink. Here are three factors to keep in mind before you have that first drink of the evening.
1) Congeners: Congeners are impurities in alcohol typically produced during fermentation and distillation; these compounds also positively affect the color, flavor, and aroma of alcoholic beverages. Concentrations are higher in both brown spirits (due to the process of pot distillation) and red wines (from the process of fermentation). Red wines also contain histamines that sometimes cause mild allergic reactions, which can adversely affect an already upset stomach or aching head.
Spirits that have been distilled several times become more purified and therefore contain fewer congeners. So white spirits, such as vodka and gin, tend to produce fewer adverse effects the next day than bourbons and brandies. Agave plants produce more congeners than corn, wheat, barley, or potatoes, so tequila is a higher-risk alcohol as well.
2) Sugar Content: Drinking sweet, overly sugared beverages can lead to dehydration, which is one of the other causes of headaches. (They say that if you drink too much port or Sauternes, you’ll consider buying a bullet and renting a gun!) The old adage of consuming water alongside your alcohol (a “water back”) is sound; its purpose is to hydrate the body, not to dilute the drink. Think of a hangover as a brain cramp. The best accompaniment to a margarita isn’t chips and salsa—it’s un vaso de agua. That coarse salt on the rim? It only makes mat-
ters worse.
3) Sulfites: While these compounds do occur naturally in wine, they’re more often added to arrest a wine’s fermentation. Though some people are allergic to sulfites, medical research isn’t definitive about whether sulfites cause headaches. Tannins and/or histamines could cause the dreaded red-wine headache; in fact, most red wines contain fewer sulfites than white wines. (And contrary to popular belief, European wines don’t contain fewer sulfites.) More sulfites are ingested in a fistful of dried fruit than in a whole bottle of red wine. Odds are that most deleterious side effects will be caused by the quantity of wine consumed, rather than the sulfites within. Oh, and pass the dried apricots, please.
A former sommelier at The French Laundry, Hoel serves as a senior wine advisor for Soutirage, a Napa Valley wine merchant and advisory firm.
