“Beer before liquor, never been sicker. Liquor before beer, you’re in the clear.” We’ve all heard this popular saying before. Anthony Bourdain even broke it on an episode of “No Reservations.” But is there any truth behind this age-old adage? Well, it turns out, probably not.

People have been trying to outsmart their metabolisms for generations, but how exactly does the body metabolize alcohol? When you start drinking, your liver starts producing enzymes to break down the alcohol. And guess what? The higher the alcohol by volume (ABV) you start with, the more enzymes your liver will produce right off the bat. So, “easing into the night” might actually be a bad idea.

Think of it like a fistfight. If you take a couple of really hard blows at the beginning, but the rest of the punches are softer, you can recover without too much trouble. However, if the punches just keep getting harder and harder, chances are you’re going down, and it’s going to hurt. It’s the same with your liver detoxifying your body.

However, this doesn’t mean the “beer before liquor” rule is valid. Some people metabolize alcohol faster than others due to various factors, such as body weight, tolerance, and genetics. It has less to do with whether they had a tequila shot before or after a beer.

Interestingly, the spirit itself doesn’t contribute to a hangover as much as the time it takes to consume it. For example, a shot of 40% ABV liquor takes about five seconds to down, but you can nurse a 5% beer for 40 minutes if you’re engaged in good conversation. That gives your liver nearly an hour to catch up and detoxify some of the alcohol from your bloodstream before your next drink. Amazing, right?

In fact, a Harvard study tested the idea of wine before beer and beer before wine on a group of adults aged 19 to 40. They also had a separate group drink either only wine or only beer until reaching a breathalyzer reading of 0.11%. Surprisingly, the study found “no correlation between hangover symptoms and whether subjects drank only wine, only beer, or switched between them in either order.” The most significant predictors of a hangover were how drunk the participants felt and whether they vomited after drinking.

Ultimately, binge drinking in any form is likely to make you feel terrible the next day. So, the real rule should probably just be to pace yourself and drink water throughout the night. Oh, and don’t forget to eat before you start drinking. If all else fails, you can always try a “Corpse Reviver,” a high-ABV cocktail designed to bring hungover warriors back to life. But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

So, next time you find yourself faced with the decision of beer or liquor first, remember that it’s more about how much you drink and how fast you drink it. Cheers!