Science behind 'terrible' champagne hangovers revealed

Washington: With the festive season at its end, the case of hangovers has an endless list, but there may be a reason why champagne hangovers are the worst, say the scientists.

Boris Tabakoff, a pharmacology professor at the University of Colorado, said that the bubbly drink has a scientific reason of being the reason for bringing on a killer hangover, ABC news reported.

Tabakoff explained that the carbon dioxide in carbonated beverages like champagne helps absorb the alcohol, which leads to "faster rate of absorption, higher blood alcohol levels and brain levels, if you drink champagne as opposed to something non-carbonated."

The outcome: about two thirds of people get drunker faster when they drink champagne or other carbonated alcoholic beverages and it is due to that the hangover is worse.

He said hangovers were mainly caused by two things: the brain inflammation that alcohol consumption causes, and the brain's lingering overcompensation in the face of alcohol's depressant mechanisms.

"That's why bright lights and loud noises seem exaggerated (and torturous) the day after a night of heavy drinking," said Tabakoff.