A person’s mood can be steered with the type of alcohol they choose, according to a new global survey.
A research team led by Public Health Wales conducted a study to find whether different kinds of alcohol can lead to drinkers exhibiting different emotional responses.
The study, which was published on Nov. 21 in the British Medical Journal BMJ Open, took data from nearly 30,000 volunteers who responded to the Global Drug Survey. It is an annual international poll about alcohol and drug habits around the globe.
Which Booze Can Make You Feel Sexy?
The research team found that consuming spirits like whiskey, gin, vodka, and other hard drinks led to a variety of powerful emotions, both positive and negative.
Out of the total number of people in the survey who had taken hard alcohol, 42 percent felt sexy, 58 percent energized, and 59 percent felt confident, implying that the next time someone wants to feel sexy they should go for hard drinks.
The researchers also noted that the highest association of feeling sexy after consuming hard drinks came from the South American participants who belonged to Brazil and Colombia.
At the same time, 22 percent of hard alcohol drinkers were also found to be tearful, 28 percent felt restlessness, and 30 percent showed aggression.
Other Types Of Alcohol And Their Effects
Beer and red wine drinkers were most likely to say they were feeling relaxed, according to the study. Almost 50 percent of those who consumed beer reported feeling relaxed, and so did nearly 53 percent of the red wine drinkers.
However, red wine, more than any other kind of hard beverage or even white wine, is also linked to feelings of fatigue, with 60 percent of the red wine drinkers feeling tired.
Other Observations
The researchers speculated that hard beverages may be related to different emotions due to variations in the amounts generally consumed, ingredients, and alcohol percentages. The cultural and advertising implications linked to the drinks might also have a part.
All the emotions exhibited by the drinkers were found to be more common among the female alcohol consumers than their male counterparts except for aggressive feelings. Alcohol consumers in the age group of 18-24, as well as heavy drinkers, were also seen to exhibit more emotions, both positive and negative.
The study also indicates that socioeconomic status and geographic area of those who took part in the survey somewhat played a part in their responses as well. The researchers further said that whether people realize it or not, they choose their alcohol on the basis of how they are feeling emotionally, what their expectations of a certain drink are, and how they think it is going to make them feel.
“These findings suggest that individuals inadvertently select drinks which are known to elicit negative emotions because they crave the positive emotions that go with them and link with existing evidence that those dependent on alcohol drink alcohol as a coping mechanism rather than drinking for pleasure,” the authors wrote.
