Does Mixing Drinks Really Make Your Hangover Worse, or Is It Just Bad PR?

“Beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you’re in the clear.” Fun to chant – but does it hold up? Short answer: it’s mostly a myth. What reliably predicts a rough next morning is how much ethanol you take in (and how fast), plus a few amplifiers like congeners, poor sleep, and your biology. Mixing different types of alcohol can coincide with drinking more or drinking faster – but the “mixing” itself isn’t the villain. Let’s unpack the science.

What Actually Causes A Hangover?

A hangover isn’t one thing; it’s a stack of mechanisms that kick in as blood alcohol falls toward zero:

• Dehydration: Alcohol suppresses vasopressin, increasing urination and fluid loss. This contributes to thirst, fatigue, and headache – but it’s only part of the story.
• Sleep disruption: Alcohol shortens REM, fragments sleep, and worsens next-day alertness – independent drivers of “hangxiety” and brain fog.
• Toxic metabolites & inflammation: Ethanol → acetaldehyde (toxic) → acetate. Immune signaling and oxidative stress rise during hangovers and likely track with symptom severity. Genetics affecting acetaldehyde breakdown (e.g., ALDH2 variants) also change susceptibility.

The Mixing Myth: Order And Combination Don’t Matter (Much)

Two good pieces of evidence test the folk sayings:

• Randomized crossover trial – beer ↔ wine: Whether participants drank beer before wine, wine before beer, or stuck to one, hangover intensity didn’t differ. How drunk people felt was the best predictor of next-day misery.
• Dose over everything: Across studies, the total alcohol dose and peak intoxication dominate hangover risk – not the order you switch drinks in.

Bottom line: mixing per se isn’t magical poison; it just often correlates with drinking more or faster.

What Does Make Some Drinks “Feel” Worse?

1) Congeners (The Color & Flavor By-Products)

Darker, more heavily aged or distilled beverages carry more congeners – chemical byproducts of fermentation and distillation that give drinks their flavor, aroma, and color (e.g., methanol, fusel alcohols, tannins). In a controlled study, bourbon (high congeners) produced more severe hangovers than vodka (low congeners) at the same ethanol dose. Performance and sleep suffered after alcohol in general, but hangover severity was higher with bourbon.

2) Bubbles & Speed Of Absorption

Carbonation can raise the initial rate of alcohol absorption, likely by altering gastric dynamics. In a lab study with vodka, carbonated mixers produced faster rises in breath alcohol for most participants versus still water. Faster rise = higher peaks = higher hangover odds if you keep pace. (Individual responses vary.) 

3) Mixers & Sweetness

Artificially sweetened mixers (e.g., diet sodas) can lead to higher breath alcohol than sugary mixers in some lab settings – again affecting peak levels and risk. 

Your Biology Matters (A Lot)

• Genetics: Variants in ALDH2 (common in East Asians and present across populations) slow acetaldehyde breakdown and are linked to more intense symptoms and flushing. Twin/family studies suggest meaningful heritability for hangover susceptibility and frequency.
• Immune fitness & inflammation: Emerging work ties systemic inflammatory signaling to hangover intensity; people with poorer baseline “immune fitness” often report worse hangovers.
• Sleep, body size, sex, timing of meals: All modulate peak BAC and recovery. Alcohol commonly disrupts REM and sleep efficiency, worsening next day function.

Evidence-Based Answers To Common Beliefs

“Beer before liquor…”
Nope. Order doesn’t spare you. The randomized controlled trial (RCT) says hangovers depend on how much you drink, not sequence. 

“Champagne hits different.”
Sometimes. Carbonation can speed absorption and raise early blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in many people, which can feel like a stronger hit – and can set up a worse hangover if you overdo it. Not universal, but plausible and shown in lab conditions. 

“Darker spirits are deadlier.”
Somewhat. Congener-heavy drinks (e.g., bourbon) increase hangover severity at the same ethanol dose vs. low-congener spirits (e.g., vodka). 

“Just hydrate and you’re fine.”
Hydration helps some symptoms (thirst, headache), but hangovers also involve sleep loss and immune changes. Water isn’t a cure-all. 

“There’s a supplement for that.”
Systematic reviews find no convincing evidence that commercial “hangover cures” work in well-controlled trials. Some NSAIDs can help headaches, but avoid acetaminophen with alcohol because of liver risk. 

Practical, Science-Backed Ways To Reduce Hangover Risk

1. Mind the dose and the pace: Spacing drinks, eating beforehand, and choosing lower-ABV options blunt peak BAC – the strongest predictor of hangover.
2. Prefer low-congener options when it matters: Clear spirits like vodka or gin generally carry fewer congeners than dark spirits like bourbon or brandy. This won’t eliminate a hangover, but it may reduce severity at equal alcohol doses.
3. Watch the bubbles: If sparkling cocktails make you over-shoot, switch to still mixers to keep peaks lower.
4. Sleep strategy: Expect fragmented sleep after heavy drinking. Prioritize a dark, quiet room and extra time for rest the next day.
5. Pain relief, carefully: If you need something for headache after the drinking is over, many clinicians favor an NSAID (e.g., ibuprofen) with food, but avoid acetaminophen around alcohol due to liver toxicity risk – particularly with heavy or chronic drinking. (If you have ulcers, kidney disease, or other conditions, talk to your clinician first.
6. Be skeptical of “cures”: From herbal extracts to trendy flavonoids, evidence is weak in humans. Prevention (i.e., drinking less) still outperforms any remedy. 

So… Does Mixing Make It Worse?

Not inherently. The best current evidence says that order and mixing (beer→wine or wine→beer) don’t independently change hangover severity. What does matter is how much ethanol you consume, how quickly you absorb it (bubbles, sweet/diet mixers), congener load (darker spirits can hurt more), sleep disruption, and your genetics/immune response. If “mixing” leads you to drink more or faster, that’s the real reason you feel worse.

Summing Up

Myth: Mixing drinks is uniquely toxic.
Reality: It’s dose, pace, congeners, carbonation, sleep, and biology. Respect those levers and you’ll respect your tomorrow. If you’re going to drink, eat first, alternate with water, avoid rapid bubbly rounds, favor lower-congener options, and call it a night earlier. And no matter what anyone promises, there’s still no proven hangover cure – moderation wins.