Why White Wine Is Less Likely To Cause A Hangover Than Red Wine

Almost everyone who has indulged in alcohol has also experienced waking up the next morning with a dry mouth and a pounding headache. The dreaded hangover happens because of your body's multifaceted response to booze. Drinking can make your blood sugar levels drop, cause dehydration, irritate your stomach lining, and more — all leading to a not-so-fun day after (per Mayo Clinic).

If you wake up with a hangover, in addition to throwing back some aspirin, your food/beverage choices the next day can help symptoms subside. Drinking a lot of electrolytes helps with alcohol-influenced dehydration, notes Cleveland Clinic, and eating fruits like mango speeds up the process of alcohol leaving your system.

But to make sure you don't experience a horrible hangover in the first place, your drink choice plays a crucial role. Some varieties are less likely to trigger hangovers than others. Vodka in moderation, for example, is known to be a little gentler on your system. And if wine is your booze of choice, sticking with white wine over red generally makes for a better morning after.

While red wine is the perfect pairing for red meats and heavy pastas, it can also make for a nasty hangover if you aren't careful. That is because it is high in something called congeners, a byproduct from fermentation, which ABC reports provides alcoholic beverages with flavor and color. Booze that is high in congeners, like red wine and bourbon, likely is darker in color and more likely to make you feel under the weather the next day. White wine has fewer congeners and also fewer histamines — another culprit of red wine hangovers.

Red wine also causes worse hangovers because of its higher alcohol percentage, Today points out. White wines average 8 to 9% alcohol, whereas red wines are frequently in the 12 to 16% range.

However, some varieties of red are better than others, explains Wine Folly. You'll want to keep an eye out for those bottles with a lower alcohol content and those with fewer tannins (like Tempranillo or Cabernet Sauvignon). Paying for an expensive wine helps, too, as these varieties are less likely to contain hangover-causing additives.

Whichever wine you choose, drinking less is still key to waking up the next morning feeling refreshed (per Today). Throwing back a bottle of white is still more likely cause a hangover than just one glass of red. So you can still enjoy your Pinot Noir, just with moderation.