Getting Really Drunk on Your 21st Birthday Can Turn You Into an Alcoholic

When someone turns 21, you take them out to a bar or ten bars and get them as drunk as humanly possible. Right? Well believe it or not, that might not be a great idea.

Researchers at the University of Washington recently tracked 600 students the year they turned 21. They found that getting super drunk on your 21st birthday can turn you into an alcoholic or at least it's linked to heavier drinking in the future.

Students who drank the most on their 21st birthday also ended up drinking more throughout the year. Which isn't that surprising.

But the ones who were affected the most by it were students who didn't drink much before they turned 21. Meaning that if you're a light drinker and get hammered on your 21st birthday, there's a decent chance you'll be a heavy drinker a year later.

According to the researchers, it's the first study to show that binge drinking on a single occasion is linked to heavy drinking in the future.

Read more at University of Washington.