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Identical twins conduct wild experiment to show real impact of binge drinking on the body

Home> Science> News

Published 02:00 30 Apr 2025 GMT+1

Identical twins conduct wild experiment to show real impact of binge drinking on the body

Two brothers drank the same amount of alcohol for a month, but only one of them binge drank

Rikki Loftus

Rikki Loftus

A pair of identical twins conducted a wild experiment to show what the real impact that binge drinking has on the human body is.

The two men in question are the Van Tulleken brothers, Chris and Xand, who are identical twins and both doctors.

The pair took on the experiment to investigate the effects of binge drinking and how it differs from moderate drinking.

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While it is commonly thought that drinking in excess is bad for your health, drinking a moderate amount of alcohol every day is often thought to actually be good for you.

To test this theory out, the brothers both consumed the exact same amount of alcohol each week for a month.

However, while Chris drank the same three drinks every day over the week, Xand saved all of his 21 drinks to have on the Saturday night of each week.

BBC Horizon
BBC Horizon

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Taking blood tests and ultrasounds, they were able to examine the impact the alcohol had on them.

While the cause of hangovers is often thought to be down to dehydration, the results showed that it could actually be brought about by acetaldehyde, which is an ingredient the body produces to help break down excess alcohol.

This means that binge drinkers could be experiencing hangovers due to being poisoned by the high amount of acetaldehyde in the body.

By the end of the month, both twins found that they had significant inflammation of their livers as well as systemic inflammation found in blood tests.

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However, only Xand had high levels of endotoxin in his body, which is a toxin present inside a bacterial cell that is released when it disintegrates.

This could be down to the fact that acetaldehyde damages the gut lining, leaving bacteria to leak into the blood.

Binge drinking can have a serious impact on the human body (kaisersosa67/Getty Images)
Binge drinking can have a serious impact on the human body (kaisersosa67/Getty Images)

All in all, both twins experienced similar impacts to their health by the end of the study.

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Professor Jalan, who was the main professor studying the results in the experiment, was shocked to find that moderate drinking can be just as harmful as binge drinking.

Discussing the results for the BBC documentary on the experiment, he said: “I'm completely flabbergasted - this is completely beyond my expectations.

“We were so surprised by what we found out that we rechecked the results.

“Whether 14 units is safe for an individual [over the course of a week], or 10 units, we can't tell ... but I think in the future we will reset the ‘sensible’ drinking level to perhaps a little bit lower.”

Featured Image Credit: kaisersosa67/Getty Images
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