Expert explains why women tend to get worse hangovers than men

We’ve all had nights where one drink turns into three, and suddenly you’re waking up the next morning swearing off alcohol forever.

But if you’ve ever felt like your hangovers are way worse than your mate’s - especially if you’re a woman - it’s not just in your head. Science says there’s a reason for it.

When you drink, alcohol doesn’t just disappear after a couple of pints. It starts in your stomach, makes its way into your bloodstream through the small intestine and heads straight for your liver. That’s where it gets broken down into acetaldehyde - the nasty stuff responsible for pounding headaches, queasy stomachs and that “never drinking again” regret.

Women's bodies often take longer to process alcohol (Spencer Platt/Staff/Getty)

Dr Suneet Singh, an emergency physician, says a single standard drink - like a glass of wine, a pint of beer or a shot - hits peak levels in your blood within about an hour. From there, your body slowly chips away at it, taking around a full day to completely clear just one drink. So yes, even if you’ve slept it off and feel “fine,” alcohol can still be in your system hours later.

Tests show it sticks around longer than you might think: up to 12 hours in your blood, 24 hours on your breath, 72 hours in your urine, 48 hours in your saliva and, wait for it, up to 90 days in your hair.

So why do women often feel rougher than men after the same amount of booze? It’s all down to enzymes.

Your body relies on two key ones - alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) - to break down alcohol.

Men usually have more ADH than women, which means they can metabolise alcohol faster. Less enzyme activity means women often end up with more acetaldehyde hanging around, and that’s what intensifies hangovers.

Enzymes in women's bodies intensify hangover (Olga Rolenko/Getty)

Genetics play a role too. Around 35 to 40 per cent of people of East Asian descent have a variation of ALDH that slows alcohol breakdown even more, which explains why some people flush bright red or feel sick after just a couple of drinks. Regular drinkers can also end up with reduced ADH levels, meaning their bodies handle alcohol differently over time.

In short: there’s no universal hangover cure because everyone’s body processes alcohol at a different pace. But the reason women often get worse hangovers than men is rooted in biology, not bad luck.

So next time you wake up feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck while your mate is already out for brunch, remember - it’s not weakness, it’s science.

Topics: Alcohol, Health