If you are a drinker, you must be familiar with alcoholic beverages. You must notice that some alcohols have a brighter color than the other. The ones with light color are called light alcohol while the ones with dark color are called dark alcohol.
We can find examples of each kind of alcohol easily. Red wine, whiskey, rum, and tequila are examples of dark alcohol. On another hand, white wine and vodka are some of light alcohol’s examples.
So, what are exactly the differences between light and dark alcohol? Let’s find out about that.
Light Alcohol
Alcohol is produced through a fermentation process. The fermentation results in compounds called congeners. When you are going out to drink at night and feel sick the next morning, this is the compound responsible for that.
Fortunately, light alcohol contains fewer congeners than the dark one. So if you still want to enjoy some alcoholic beverages but cannot bear the heavy hangover that will come after that, just choose some light alcohol, such as white wine, white rum, vodka, or gin.
Congeners are impurities in alcohol that contribute to the taste. Besides that, there is also another impurity in alcohol, this one is allergens. Impurities allegedly play the role of allergies contributing to the drinker. Since the level of impurities in light alcohol is lower than the dark alcohol, the experts consider light alcohol does not tend to trigger allergies. Related:Irritant Chemicals Examples
Dark Alcohol
Clear liquor is not a result of fermentation. It is the result of a filter process which intention is to remove the impurities. Dark alcohol goes through a different kind of process.
It is processed with the fermentation method and during this process, there are some impurities being formed. One of them is congeners. This is what makes dark alcohol rich of taste. The taste is for sure better than the light alcohol, but you will also a worse hangover.
The hangover is caused by the congener. The exact congener responsible for this is methanol. The methanol breaks down into toxins formaldehyde and formic acid. Both compounds make you have a really bad hangover.
There is a study to back this data that compares people who drink the same amount of either vodka (light alcohol) or bourbon (dark alcohol). 3% of the vodka drinkers said that they had pain the next day while 33% of the bourbon drinkers said that they got the next-day pain. It clearly shows the different after effect of both drinks, right? Here’s more What Happens If You Mix Zopiclone With Alcohol? Is It Dangerous?
Now we know that there are many kinds of congeners in dark alcohol. Some of them are the cause of a hangover, even worse, some of them are believed to be toxics. Acetaldehyde is one of the toxic congeners. This is the result of ethanol metabolism that many experts claim to be more toxic than the alcohol itself.
But, each people show a different impact on this compound. It might cause a significant effect on one person, but it can be worse for another person. The most important thing is to make sure that you do not drink too much.
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The Benefit of Drinking Alcohol
Both kinds of alcohol have some benefits. Drinking the light one is fun and you will get less hangover. Drinking the dark one is not bad either. Some of the congeners in dark alcohol are actually good impurities.
Congeners such as butanol (you can find it in whiskey) have a protective effect. It protects your stomach lining, the one produces important compounds in your stomach. Dark alcohol also contains antioxidants which many research claims to be very good for your health.
Mixing Light And Dark Alcohol
There are many people state that they get drunker when they mix alcohol. It is true that light alcohol has fewer congeners than the dark one but mixing them together is never a good idea.
Our body can only take 10 grams of alcohol per hour. As mentioned above, drinking alcohol gives you some benefits, but truth be told, it also affects the function of the pre-frontal cortex of the brain.
The more we drink alcohol, the less this part of the brain can function normally. This will lead to bad decision making, which, in this case, is drinking more alcohols! This is why you are not supposed to mix light and dark alcohol. You will end up drinking a lot of alcohol, more than you can handle, and the next morning you will wake up with a bad headache.
Related: Chemicals in your brain
You will not only get that effect when you mix two kinds of alcohol together but also when you drink light alcohol first then switch to dark alcohol. When you drink the light one first, your body will get used to a certain level of drunk.
When you switch to the dark one, your body thinks that you are still at the same level of drinking and intoxication. It will make you take even more alcohol! This is why you are not supposed to mix light and dark alcohol. Just like the first case, you will drink too much and you will suffer from a hangover the next day.
You will only put more and more alcohols is the reason why you are not supposed to mix light and dark alcohol. So, remember, you can enjoy your drink but always drink responsibly.