Sensible types may plan to have only a few drinks when they go to a party at this time of year – in order to avoid the next day being a write-off.
But the number of drinks you consume may matter less than how drunk you feel.
Those who feel more intoxicated tend to have worse hangovers, a study has found. And it appears to be more important than how much they actually drank.
This may be because feelings of drunkenness show alcohol has more strongly affected the brain and body, which is likely to intensify hangover symptoms such as headache, thirst and nausea.
Researchers at the Open University collected information on the drinking habits and hangovers of almost 1,200 people in the UK and Ireland.
This included asking about their heaviest bout of drinking in the last month, how many drinks they had consumed and how drunk they had felt, from a score of zero to ten.
They were also asked about their personality or mood when drinking, to gauge the effect on their hangovers.
According to the researchers, how much they drank had only an 11 per cent impact, compared to an impact of 64 per cent for how drunk they felt.
The number of drinks you consume may matter less than how drunk you feel, according to a study
The NHS recommends people drink no more than 14 ‘units’ of alcohol — around six glasses of wine, or pints of beer — per week
Someone’s personality, such as whether they were neurotic or extroverted, or mood when drinking was not significantly linked to having a bad hangover. The findings were presented at the 14th Alcohol Hangover Research Group Meeting in Glasgow.
Dr Lydia Devenney, who led the study, told the Daily Mail: ‘This has implications for how we manage our hangovers.
‘Your future self may thank you for not just keeping an eye on how much you drink, but also checking in with how you feel and remembering what’s “normal” for you before ordering that next round.’
