Liquor before beer? You will still feel terrible, new study says

“Beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you’re in the clear” is a well-worn phrase backing the belief that you can avoid a hangover if you take drinks in the “right” order.

But a new medical study has concluded that the threat of a crushing hangover cannot be removed by making sure that beer comes before, or after, wine.

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on Friday, went further claiming that hangovers were also not made more bearable by sticking to one type of drink thereby debunking another of the barfly’s favorite: “Grape or grain but never the twain.”

The experiment broke up 90 people into three groups before the drinking began. Factors included size, age and gender.

The beer, a Carlsberg Pilsner lager, held an alcohol content of 5 percent and was, served cold. A 2015 Edelgrafler white wine with an alcohol content of 11.1 percent, was served at the same temperature.

One group consumed two-and-a-half pints of beer followed by four large glasses of white wine. The second group consumed the same, but in the opposite order.

The third group drank either only beer or only wine, but with matching alcohol levels.

A week later, the study groups were asked to come back and drink in reverse order, or in the case of the third group, to switch beverages.

Hangover severity was judged by Acute Hangover Scale (AHS) rating on the day following each drinking session.

According to the study, changing the order of the drinks made no little to difference to the pain or discomfort of those in the medical trial and sticking to one or the other drink offered little AHS change either.

It was noted that women in the groups tended to suffer more than men.

While debunking some old myths the conclusion of the paper did suggest that there were important benefits of a symptomatic hangover calling it “a protective warning sign that will certainly have aided humans over the ages to modify future behavior, and hence pass on this evolutionary advantage to next generations.”