I’ve seen people claim that getting drunk off of X causes them to party, while getting drunk off of Y causes them to sleep, and getting drunk off of Z causes them to be more depressed, but X causes them to be more happy, etc.
Is this actually true? If so,
– I presume it’s dependent on the person, so what physical or mental differences in a person make them more or less likely?
– What about the alcohols could affect this?
– How does what you mix it with take a role? (Like do Citrus mix-ins have a different effect than caffeine mix-ins, etc).
If it’s not true:
– Why do people claim that it’s true so fervently?
Edit: So the consensus seems to be “The difference comes from the atmosphere and emotions you have going in. The alcohol itself likely has little difference. However, some alcohol has more or less histamines, melatonin, or are often paired with things with more sugar or caffeine, or contain more or less fluids to hydrate, so these all may play roles”.
In: Chemistry
It’s likely there is many other variables effecting this and the person isn’t taking those into account.
Like, they drink only tequila at parties, where it’s already very energetic with music, so they think tequila gives them energy, or maybe they mix it with energy drinks.
Or they take vodka late at night alone, so they think it makes them sleepy, when it’s already past their usually sleep time.
Or maybe they are mixing it with medications they take which causes additional side effects.
There can be some amount of placebo/social effect, if the person states what each alcoholic drink “does” to them, they might be taking it as a social cue to act that way based on what drinks they are offered.
No. It’s all about the amount, how fast they drink it, and the environment they drink it in.
People claiming things like “when I drink X it makes me sleepy,” is almost always because their body reacts to the amount of alcohol in X a certain way, and/or they usually drink at a certain pace so they feel those effects. Of course, there are different alcoholic drinks that contain different ingredients like caffeine that might cause related effects, but as far as the alcohol itself it’s all the same.
The reason people claim it’s true is the “placebo effect,” where being told something will affect them in a certain way causes them to perceive it affecting them that way, even though it isn’t. The placebo effect is so much stronger than people realize, and nobody wants to have their perception questioned, which means people will straight up fight you if you try to tell them what they’re experiencing is a placebo.
There is nothing different about different alcohols other than their concentration. Lots of other factors go into how it affects you. Amount of sleep, what you’ve eaten, etc.
I am not an expert in this manner and could easily be wrong, but this is my understanding:
It’s about the environment and scenarios presented. Usually when people get different alcohol, it’s for different reasons. If you only have tequila in shots, that’s gonna hit your body different than a beer or wine that gives you plenty of fluid besides the alcohol. Plus the alcohol you get from beer and wine is more spread out unless you are chugging it.
Really I think it boils down to: why are you drinking (sadness, at a party, etc), how much and how fast do you drink it, how much non-alcohol liquids is involved, and how much food is involved.
[removed]
As far as I know, there is no evidence that different alcohols, ingested in the same alcohol quantities, make people behave differently.
There’s something called “alcohol expectancy theory,” which is the idea that the effects you feel from drinking are dependent on the effects you _expect_ to feel. So if you think drinking gin makes you violent, you’re more likely to get violent after drinking gin because that’s the effect you expect. If you think tequila makes you horny and red wine makes you sad and champagne makes you dumb, you’ll exhibit those tendencies as a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.
The expectations come from previous behavior. Maybe I don’t usually get violent when I drink, but then that one time I did, and I was drinking gin, so it must have been the gin, not my dumb drunk ass. So now I think gin makes me violent.
Different types of booze can “feel” different. The alcohol is the same chemical from one bottle to the next. But the impurities and flavorings and other stuff in the bottle with the alcohol can contribute to how it makes you feel physically. Then you come to associate the expected emotions with the actual physical experiences, and it leads to the idea that different types of liquor “do different things.”
I’m not aware of any proof that various sprits effect mood differently. The beliefs persist because drinkers share stories, most people don’t have the same level of experience with all spirits, and sometimes primarily consume specific spirits in certain situations. I’ve known a people who don’t drink tequila because they feel it makes them wild or get headaches. But these are people who typically only drink tequila as shots or when they’re out with friends who want to get wild.
I can’t say that most mixers have much effect outside of those like energy drinks.
Some wines can affect how you feel however. Red wines tend to have more histamines than white wines, which affects some people negatively. There’s also some recent research that suggest wines from grapes in sunnier regions have a lot of quercetin, which can cause headaches more readily than those that don’t.
I think there’s a combo of a few factors here.
1. There are some differences in the drinks other than the alcohol itself. For example red wine has been shown to contain melatonin which is the hormone that its entire purpose is to make you feel sleepy. Beer has a ton of carbs which can cause your energy levels to fluctuate. Hard liquor is frequently mixed with things that are sugary or that contain caffeine like soft drinks. Many wines or beers probably contain sulfites which different people react to differently and it may make some people sleepy.
2. Correlation and/or psychological effects. Generally people aren’t partying hard with wine, they usually drink it in more relaxing settings, so they associate it with more relaxation. And then even if they do then drink it in a party setting once they may expect it to make them sleepy and the mind can be powerful and can cause this to happen.
Idk about happy/sleepy etc, but a few years back I developed a gallbladder issue and now if I drink red wine or dark liquor I *will* have an attack later that night. White wine, beers, and clear liquor never cause it. I suspect it’s the tannins being difficult to break down and causing my gallbladder to go into overload. Which is a shame because dark rum was my jam and I enjoy pinot noir, but I cut out drinking except for special occasions a couple years ago to lose weight so I suppose having less options makes avoiding it easier.
Latest Answers