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Can Men Handle Alcohol Better than Women?

Some men brag that they can handle alcohol better than women. Can there be some truth to that?

The average weight difference between women and men is one reason why women tend to get intoxicated faster, but there's more.

Women also tend to have more fat and less muscle than men, even tall women. This is significant because muscle tissue contains more water than fat does, and alcohol dissolves in water and thus is diluted.

With about ten percent more water in their bodies than women, men can drink more alcohol than women before becoming intoxicated. In fact, studies show that women suffer worse hangovers than men too. Men tend to experience more sweating and vomiting as a result of drinking.

But overall, women suffer from more dehydration, exhaustion, headaches, and nausea. With every drink, women are reaching higher degrees of intoxication than their male counterparts and thus it makes sense that they're reaching higher degrees of hangover too. More research is needed to determine for certain why women's hangovers are worse.

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