5 common alcohol myths debunked: Experts unpack the truth about nightcaps, hangover cures, red wine and more

Rebecca Corey
(Getty Images)
No, having a drink will not help you sleep or stay warm, experts say. (Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Americans’ relationship with alcohol and their perception of how healthy it is may be changing — with younger people drinking a lot less, and many people in general reevaluating whether even small servings of alcohol are really worth the possible drawbacks to their health. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot that people still misunderstand about drinking alcohol, which has deep roots and a complicated history in the U.S.

Yahoo Life asked experts to tackle some of the top myths and cultural norms that people still believe about booze and its supposed benefits — and a few of them may surprise you!

If you believed this myth, we wouldn’t blame you. For decades, studies claimed that red wine had heart health benefits, including a lower risk of heart disease. And it wasn’t just red wine that was supposedly good for you; the conventional wisdom for years was that moderate drinking — meaning up to one drink a day for women or up to two drinks a day for men — was not only safe, but actually helped you live longer.

But as recent research has shown, alcohol likely has zero health benefits, and the studies that purported that it does used flawed data. People who drink in moderation also usually have a slew of other healthy habits that help them live longer — and experts say it’s that healthy lifestyle, not the alcohol, that is likely responsible for their longevity.

“They can regulate their alcohol intake and avoid developing alcohol use disorder,” George F. Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) tells Yahoo Life of moderate wine drinkers. “They tend to exercise more, have more degrees, make more money and see doctors more often. These lifestyle factors create the illusion that the wine is somehow responsible for the health benefits.”

But what about all those antioxidant-rich grapes used to make red wine? Surely they have health benefits? As Yahoo Life previously reported, probably not. Resveratrol, a substance found in red grapes and therefore red wine, is known for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich properties. But Jessica Marcus, a registered dietitian nutritionist, told Yahoo Life that evidence to support the idea that red wine helps prevent heart disease is “pretty weak.”

“The resveratrol studies have been done in mice, and you’d have to drink so much red wine to get the therapeutic amount — over 100 glasses! — that it clearly isn’t a viable argument,” she said.

The “nightcap” — or an alcoholic drink enjoyed before bed to help you sleep — has been around for centuries. The term has been used since at least the early 18th century as a cheeky play on the literal nightcaps that people donned at bedtime to keep warm.

But alas, like so many medical prescriptions of the 18th century, the science behind nightcaps has since been debunked. Koob says that while a drink before bed might make it easier to fall asleep initially, it eventually leads to “less time in restorative slow-wave sleep and early awakenings.”

Katherine Keyes, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, adds: “We know from decades of research that alcohol consumption is a sleep disruptor, and that consuming alcohol before bed is associated with lower quality of sleep, more nighttime wake-ups [and] higher heart rate during sleep.”

Sit down at many family dinner tables in France or Italy, and you’re likely to find youngsters sipping wine alongside their parents. Americans have long assumed that Europeans have it all figured out when it comes to alcohol: enjoying but not overindulging, and introducing it to children as just “part of the culture” so that it’s not such a novelty when they grow up — which, many assume, leads to less binge drinking. But it turns out it might not all be perfect across the pond.

“While many people point to countries like France as examples of how allowing people to drink alcohol at young ages is somehow protective against excessive drinking, the reality is that more teenagers binge drink in France than in the United States,” Koob says.

Koob says research suggests that earlier alcohol use is associated with a higher likelihood of developing alcohol use disorder, even when the alcohol is provided by an adult at home; and kids whose parents allow them to drink or even sip alcohol at home are more likely to drink excessively outside the home.

Keyes adds that studies in a number of countries support the idea that age of first drink is associated with the development of later alcohol problems.

“We know that the earlier someone is introduced to alcohol, regardless of the culture they're in, the more likely they are to develop problems with alcohol later on,” Keyes says. “We encourage people in all contexts to delay alcohol use as long as possible.”

If you’ve ever indulged in a Bloody Mary or mimosa after a night of drinking, it can be easy to subscribe to the notion that brunch cocktails can double as hangover tonics. (Bonus health history fact: The phrase “hair of the dog” is short for the adage “the hair of the dog that bit you,” and supposedly comes from the old belief that you can heal an ailment by using a little bit of the thing that harmed you in the first place.)

But Koob explains that while adding more alcohol might temporarily calm certain symptoms, it only prolongs the amount of time it will take you to recover from the hangover and may add to the impairments in attention, driving and motor coordination.

“Adding alcohol to a hangover also will ultimately produce even more of a hangover,” he says. “This is a classic example of misregulation, where one is attempting to fix the problem but in fact making the problem worse.”

To help prevent hangovers during a night out, drink slowly and on a full stomach, and try to have a glass of water for every alcoholic beverage you consume.

As summer ends and the temperatures begin to dip, fall and holiday-themed cocktails designed to warm you up from the inside out become all the rage. But experts say that spiked beverage won’t actually bring you much relief.

“Alcohol causes blood vessels in the skin to dilate, causing an illusion of warmth while the core body temperature actually drops,” Koob says.

This “illusion of warmth” can lead to riskier behavior, like not packing on enough layers or staying outside for too long.

“Certainly, intoxication can make you feel more euphoric, so you might forget that you're cold or have it not bother you as much,” Keyes adds. “But it will not warm you up.”

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