ANSWERS: 10
  • There are two schools of thought on this question. One school of thought: Mixing drinks confuses the body detoxification system, so stick to the same drink. This means beer OR liquor. A second school of thought: The saying "Beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, never fear" is actually true. Beer is carbonated so it absorbs alcohol more quickly. This is clearly a belief system and not an exact science. By the way the phrases, beer before liquor never been sicker and liquor before beer and you’re in the clear are English proverbs. With alcohol there can’t be an exact science because every "body" reacts differently to the substance.
  • Yes and no. From personal experience and that of others, it all depends on the individual, their tolerance to alcohol and their level of intoxication. For example, in college I weighed about 190 pounds and am 6' tall. On a typical Saturday night, I could watch a sports game, drink 5-6 beers, then walk to the college bars. I may take a few shots, drink a few mixed drinks (rum and Coke, gin and tonic, etc.) and drink a couple more beers. I never felt sick or felt as though the effects of alcohol were enhanced from this order. Keep in mind all the factors listed above- this occurred over a period of approximately six or seven hours, my body mass is greater than most average males and I was a college student who built up a greater tolerance to alcohol than someone who did not drink. The original advice of liquor before beer is usually given to people who are beginning drinkers or those who drink infrequently. A 120 pound female who drinks for the second time in her life would probably get drunk and sick if she were to drink a few beers and then do a few shots. That is because of the rate of absorption of the alcohol. If I were to shoot six shots of liquor right now, I would not be drunk in the next minute or two. It takes time for the alcohol to enter the bloodstream and then be processed and removed from your body. So while I would probably not be impaired in the first few minutes, about 30 minutes from now one would notice the obvious signs of intoxication- I would be slurring my speech, dragging my feet and all that other stuff. A common mistake is that while teens or inexperienced people drink, they feel like the alcohol is not doing anything for them. Then, by doing shots or making stronger drinks, they try to "catch up" to their friends. As a result, they can go from a relative buzz to being beligerent because of the amount of time it takes for the alcohol to enter your bloodstream. By then, it is usually too late. The person may have the spins, vomit, black out, pass out or even suffer from further alcohol poisoning. That is a very dangerous situation. Not to preach or anything, but if you ever drink with inexperienced drinkers, they should not be forced to drink more by peer pressure or threats ("You're a sissy" or "You're a two beer queer!") as they will try to impress others by how much they can drink. As a freshman in college, there were a few people on campus who died from alcohol poisoning. It's a better idea for inexperienced drinkers to start drinking beer or wine instead of liquor. They can gradually work their way up to that at a later time (different day- not later that night!) once others know they are not a danger to themselves or others.
  • I've never heard of this expression but I can guess where it comes from. You start an evening (or morning, perhaps) off drinking a few beers. After a while you become mildly whammed, but you continue drinking for good luck. Since you are beginning to lose your sense of vertical stability, you have a few more to make the world seem better. Once sense has totally departed and you hit the maudlin stage, you move on to liquor, since beer is only drunk by wimps. After a few stiff drinks and a couple of intemperate remarks, you are ejected from the establishment and pass out in a snowbank somewhere. If you start this process with liquor, you pass out more quickly since you can imbibe your too many drinks much more quickly. The hangover is less severe, as you didn't drink as much to begin with. Either way, it is a crime that carries its own punishment.
  • We generally consume more alcohol at a faster rate when we drink liquor than we would when drinking beer. The alcohol is what dehydrates us and causes hangovers so if we drink beer first and liquor afterwards we generally increase the amount liquor intake and in turn increase the amount of dehydration during this period, whereas we decrease it when drinking beer after the liquor. You will probably find if you drink alot of water prior to drinking as well as a glass of water between drinks you will greatly reduce the severity of hangovers. everybody will react different to drinking alcoholic beverages in different levels
  • The body reacts to beer a bit differently than it does liquor. One clue to this is that it is almost impossible to kill yourself drinking just beer, because your body will start to react and you will get sick long before you can poison yourself to death. Liquor, on the other hand, can be fatal if you drink too much too fast, because more alchohol can enter the bloodstream, and begin to attack the organs, before the body's reaction can trigger nausea and reduce the amount of alchohol in the stomach. When you are just drinking one kind of drink at a moderate rate, you are more likely to sense the threshold correctly before you get there. When drinking beer, you tend to feel great right up until you hit the threshold, and then you quickly start to feel bad. If you drink enough beer, you may still feel fine even though you are nearing that threshold where the body would normally begin to trigger nausea, you might then have a few drinks of liquor and toss yourself too quickly over that threshold before you realized it. Eventually, the body catches up to what's going on and then look out below. Hey, just to add confusion, I've also heard the phrase, "Beer ON liquor, never sicker...", which might apply, for example, if you drink a lot of liquor quickly, and before it really hits you, you switch to beer. In that case it could be beer getting a bad rap for what the liquor really did. I'm just guessing here. Obviously, when in doubt, take a break for an hour or so to see where you really stand. If you are still standing, you might have a chance either way.
  • No, it is not accurate. While it's true that our bodies react differently to beer and spirits, the level of sickness, or hangover depends very simply on a person's tolerance, the amount of alcohol consumed and the pace of consumption. Most likely, when someone tells tales of spinning rooms, dry heaves and wicked headaches due to mixing beer and booze, they not only mixed them, but over indulged. A normal, moderate drinker can easily have a beer at 5:00pm, a glass of wine with dinner at 7:00pm and end the night with a coctail or two later in the evening - without worries of hangover. Of course, water between drinks also helps to slow the pace and hydrate the body to further avoid the possibility of a headache.
  • I believe it has to do with the carbonation. When i drink, i can't drink things like rum and coke, but rum and orange juice i can drink all night long without the hangover or pukeing. i can drink beer all nite long by itself also, but mixing = really BAD reaction. i dunno why, its just something ive noticed. the difference between horrifically sick nights and awesome times is the fizz and hard liquor combo.
  • I have to say it doesn't matter. Though, my first "sick" experience was with some vodka first, then some olde english...terrible sickness the last half of the night. Was 8 years ago. Now I just drink a liter of water before I might drink, and some water/non-alc drinks in between...snacks and such help, too.
  • The answer is absolutely yes. If, that is, the question refers to drinking both in the same evening. Setting aside the good advice of others involving water or food, look at it like this - beer is a casual walk towards "drunk" and shots are, well, an F-18 at launch. The issue is how fast the alcohol gets to your brain. If you drink beer, it's at a rather slow rate that the alcohol (at the rough measure of an ounce per bottle) gets "down the road". Let's see that in practice... If dude A does two or three shots and then starts drinking beer, at the end of 30 minutes he's got his secind beer in his hand and is looking for that blond he saw earlier. But he's drinking slowly now because the shots are teaming up to make that beer kinda bland and the buzz is in high gear. (this guy will have a serious hang over if he doesn't drink some water) Dude B on the other hand, orders a beer first, and after about 15 minutes another. 30 minutes into his night and he's just getting started. Unlike his bud, "A", he only has the two "shots" of alcohol, that are diluted in his 24 ounces of beer, casually walking towards his brain. And part of that time was spent standing in line for the bathroom. Two hours later, as the beer finally amasses enough alcohol to define "calling it a night", he gets talked into doing shots. You can see where this goes. On the plus side, if the Blond can just stay clear for about 15 mintues, "B" will be out cold. Summary: IF it's your Birthday, or some such event where you can't avoid doing shots, do them early - drink moderately afterwards - NEVER return to the bar for a second round of shots (this is the best time to "need to go pee") - and look for that Blond (you're gonna need a ride home).
  • With me if I mix spirits, beer and wine it can make me sick.So there might be some truth in it.

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