It was a fun night — but you wake up the next morning with a sense of dread, feeling anxious about what you said and did the night before.
You may not have even done anything to be embarrassed about, but that “hangxiety” is no joke — and it comes down to how alcohol affects your brain and body even after that tipsy feeling is gone.
But not all alcohol is created equal. According to experts, some booze is better for beating the morning-after mood swings while others are even more likely to mess with your mental health.
“Almost anyone who drinks any alcohol will experience alterations in their brain when they’re coming off the alcohol. With a small amount of drinking, that may manifest as confusion, but after larger quantities, you can have anxiety,” neuropsychopharmacologist professor David Nutt told National Geographic.
That’s caused by a few factors. Physically, hangovers increase levels of the stress hormone cortisol while also raising blood pressure and heart rate, all of which can make you feel unsettled.
It’s also a diuretic, meaning it makes you pee a lot and can lead to dehydration — which can make you feel dizzy, tired and anxious.
What’s more, there’s research showing that dopamine — the “happy hormone” — is lower during hangovers.
But part of that morning-after anxiety is set in motion in your brain the night before. According to Professor Nutt, when alcohol enters your bloodstream, your body adapts by getting drunk. But when your brain senses that, it tries to rein in control by telling your body to stay awake.
The brain keeps doing that well after the alcohol leaves your body — so when you’re no longer drunk the next morning, your brain may still be behaving like it’s fighting off a sedative, sending your heart racing and filling you with anxiety.
So what do you do if you still want to toss back a few? Stick to his recommendations below.
Beer
Hangxiety is also often referred to as the “beer blues,” but beer is actually among the better options for avoiding that feeling.
“Beer is a centuries-old drink, it wasn’t created for social reasons, or drinking for pleasure, but to actually keep us hydrated,” Professor Nutt told the Telegraph. “Until the 18th century, almost everyone in Britain drank small amounts of beer instead of water because the (relatively small) alcohol content killed off bugs that would make people sick.”
It’s also more filling than a lot of other drinks, leading many people to drink less.
Low-alcohol and zero-alcohol beer are also better for your next-day mental health.
Hard seltzer
White Claw and High Noon became super popular in large part because of their relatively low calorie count, but they’re also lower in alcohol than spirits — so people may drink less — and lower in something called congeners, which comes out of fermentation and makes chemicals like acetone, acetaldehyde and methanol.
“Hard seltzers have a very low concentration of congeners, which are thought to contribute to hangover symptoms,” Dr. Scott Braunstein, M.D., told Bumble. “Certain alcohols, such as red wine, brandy and whiskey, are known to contain much higher levels.”
About those…
Red wine, brandy and whiskey can all spell trouble for hangxiety.
Brandy and whiskey are both made in barrels that give it more flavor, making them “complex.”
“Complex alcohols, which are more powerful than ordinary alcohol, cause more adaptation in the brain, making you more intoxicated even by drinking smaller amounts, leading to greater hangovers and increased anxiety,” Professor Nutt told the Telegraph.
Red wine is also worse than white because it has tyramine and histamines, which are known to trigger anxiety.
