The doc demystifies 4 myths about hot drinks: Does hot wine get you drunk faster than cold wine?

Esser says that this is actually the case: “On the one hand, the warmth of mulled wine ensures that the gastrointestinal tract is better supplied with blood and that alcohol spreads faster in the body.” On the other hand, the sugar in mulled wine increases the absorption of alcohol. How quickly a person gets drunk depends on other factors. For example, whether you drink on an empty stomach or how well your body breaks down alcohol. “There are people who, for genetic reasons, produce less of the essential enzymes needed to break down alcohol,” Esser says. As a result, they get drunk faster than other people.

Esser says this is a misconception: “If you drink mulled wine, initially a feeling of warmth spreads through your body, but over time you start to feel cold.” This is because alcohol has a vasodilating effect, thus allowing more blood to flow to the body surface. This creates heat which is then released through the skin. “This may cause your cheeks to become flushed and warm, but you’re more likely to feel cold inside.”

“The determining factor in headaches is not the mulled wine itself, but the breakdown product of the alcohol,” says Esser. In the liver, alcohol is converted to acetaldehyde through a specific enzyme, which causes headaches and other hangover symptoms such as nausea or dizziness. “Acetaldehyde is very toxic and is responsible for the carcinogenic effects of alcohol.” According to experts, drinking red or white mulled wine can make a difference when it comes to headaches. “Some people are particularly sensitive to certain compounds, such as histamine, which are found in increased amounts in red wine.” Studies have shown that histamine can trigger migraine attacks.

If you heat mulled wine above 80 degrees, not only does the alcohol evaporate, but the sugar breakdown product hydroxymethylfurfural, which is said to be carcinogenic, is also formed. Esser says there is no clear evidence of this. “Scientists suspect that hydroxymethylfurfural is carcinogenic because it belongs to a family of chemical compounds with cancer-causing properties.” However, there is currently no direct link between the sugar breakdown product and cancer. “Of much more concern is the carcinogenic effect of alcohol’s breakdown of acetaldehyde, which is released in the body regardless of temperature.”

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