“Beer before liquor never been sicker. Liquor before beer you are in the clear.”

I often hear my friends refer to this saying when drinking begins.  When one reaches for a beer, my friend Alyssa always tosses out this phrase.  This phrase is used to heed the warning of alcohol illness from excessive drinking, and she believes that it is the combination of cocktails and beer, rather than the sheer amount, that makes one sick.

I tend to disagree with her thoughts on the topic.  Although mixing alcohols seems to make things worse, I do not think the order of consumption really makes a large difference in the matter.

The Discovery Channel’s hit show MythBusters had an episode testing this beer-and-liquor myth in the 2009 season episode 127.  They busted this myth saying that the combination of beer and liquor has little to do with drunkenness and hang over level.

Annotation: MythBusters. 2009 Season. Episode 127. “The Morning After.” http://mythbustersresults.com/dirty-vs-clean-car