Most college students have one of two realizations when they wake up in the morning: 1) They wake up in a frenzy, screaming, “What year is it?!” after oversleeping and missing an 8 am class; 2) they wake up thinking someone is knocking on their skulls, when in reality, it’s just an unanticipated hangover courtesy of the night before. Surprise!
So, for the first couple weeks of school, you feel invincible. You own this year, right? On any given night, your conclusion is usually, “Let’s go out,” “let’s get a drink” or in a British accent, “I just want to dawnce!” What’s the first week for if for not going out?
It's the perfect situation: Nothing counts yet, no homework is hugely distributed and the readings won't be discussed until next week. Well, I'm here to remind you that no matter what you do, you just might snag a hangover.
I don’t care if you peed a million times, or if you're drinking that "skinny" margarita mix; it’s coming for you... because of genetics.
Apparently, our genetics can make the difference between procuring a hangover and angelically waking up, as if you've never had a drink in your life and are the picture of perfect hydration. And you wondered why your friend was that drunk girl crying in the bathroom (or maybe that was you).
According to a new study, there's a link between our genetic makeup and hangovers. The study found that genetic factors account for 45 percent of the difference in hangover frequency in women and 40 percent in men.
In other words, genetics is nearly half of the reason why you will have a hangover, and your roommate, who also drank the same amount (ahem, 10 shots of tequila), will not.
Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia interviewed 4,000 middle-aged twins in Australia for the study. By tallying the number of hangovers the participants reported in the past year, in addition to DNA, they discovered the culprit.
They also found that those who have the “hangover gene” tend to drink to the point of intoxication more often than people who don't have it.
Researchers additionally found a correlation between identical twins' hangover frequency (how often they felt sick the day after) and hangover resistances (whether they experienced a hangover after getting drunk or not).
The correlation suggested that the genetic similarities play into hangover tendencies.
Of course, it’s not strictly genetic. You won't experience a hangover if you have one Angry Orchard.
If half of the reason why anyone can have a hangover is due to the bad luck of his or her DNA, the other half is due to drinking too quickly, not eating sufficiently before drinking or having terrible tolerance.
So, what is the moral of this story? Sometimes, you can’t help that you want to just eat pistachio macaroons, shop at Urban Outfitters or experience the “happiness” that only Jack Daniel's Honey can give you. But remember, like in any relationship, there’s a limit.
Your current binge-drinking won't save you from the nauseating feeling with which you'll wake up that will force you to wear sunglasses inside tomorrow. Don’t you just hate guys who do that? Yep. Those darn genes.
You actually were born this way, which should make you reconsider: Are you really that thirsty, doe?
Photo Courtesy: We Heart It
