Hang-Overs and How to Treat Them

How many of us have said "I'll never drink again."anxious, they get excited, they can't sleep, and
It is something many of us have claimed thethey get the shakes. They even may hallucinate.
morning after a debauched night while strugglingIt's thought that even one bout of heavy drinking
to face daylight with a pounding headache, amay induce a mild state of central nervous
parched tongue, and a distinctly queasy feeling insystem excitation, which may be perceived as a
the pit of your stomach.hangover.
For many this promise is short-lived and isThe second theory is that the hangover is due
particularly hard to maintain especially during thenot to the alcohol per se but other things in the
holiday season. There are more parties and peoplealcohol, the so-called congeners. A beverage of
have more leisure time, thus people tend toalcohol is usually not 100% pure.
increase their alcohol consumption.For example, whiskey may be distilled, but then
So if you overindulged at the office holiday party,it's stored in charred-oak barrels for years and
you might find yourself not only deeplyyears, you get all of these compounds that leach
embarrassed but also seeking a quick hangoverout of the barrels and then get degraded
cure. Hangover remedies abound and include suchovertime. There are hundreds of biological
treats as anchovies, tea made from rabbitcompounds in alcohol beverages. Of course, with
dropping and of course another stiff drink. But dowine and beer, you actually add yeast to the
they work?grapes or malted barley or whatever, so there
What is a hangover?!are lots of chemicals in it.
A hangover is a 'collection' of symptoms thatThe other thing is that yeast also makes other
occurs after a bout of alcohol drinking. It is thatkinds of alcohols. When yeast ferments sugar and
simple.alcohol, the vast majority of what it makes is
There are some studies that suggest that thereethyl alcohol, which is the alcohol we drink. But
may be some genetic predisposition to ayeast can also produce other alcohols, such as
hangover, although that's not clear. Obviously,methanol (or wood alcohol), and methanol's pretty
larger quantities of alcohol are more likely totoxic.
produce a more severe hangover. And there areAs little as a 1 ounce shot of methanol can cause
a lot of other factors that may go into it as well.blindness, if you drink it pure.
There is some evidence that the type of alcoholWhen methanol is metabolized in the liver, it's
consumed may relate to a hangover, the time ofconverted to formaldehyde, which is embalming
day that alcohol's consumed, whether one isfluid. So when you drink alcohol that contains
drinking instead of sleeping, whether you eat whilesome methanol, your body first gets rid of the
you're drinking, and how well hydrated you are.ethyl alcohol but the methanol stays in your blood.
It is hard to get a sense of how many drinks areIt doesn't get degraded, and it actually builds up
needed over a certain period of time for anover time. Then when you've burned up all the
average person. It depends on several factors,ethanol, you start to metabolize the methanol and
and it's an individual sort of thing. There are peopleproduce formaldehyde as a by product of that,
who drink very, very heavily - who are alcoholicsand some people feel that produces the
- and never get a hangover and there are somesymptoms of a hangover.
who drink very heavily and they do getCertain types of alcoholic beverages have more
hangovers.methanol than others. There appears to be a
Trying to determine the worst time of day inrelationship between likelihood of getting a
terms of a hangover is very interesting. On thehangover and how dark the alcohol is. The color
one hand, alcohol consumed in the morning tendsmeans that the alcohol has more junk in it. The
to be more intoxicating, believe it or not. But bydarker the color is somehow reflecting the level
and large, most people drink in the evening andof congeners, thus more clear- colored alcohols,
late at night, and that means they may belike vodka and gin, are less likely to give you a
drinking instead of sleeping and alcohol influenceshangover than the dark- colored alcohol, like
the quality of sleep as well. As a result, one endswhiskey, scotch, bourbon or brandy. Likewise,
up sleep deprived, and that can certainlyamong wines, people often find they're more likely
exacerbate hangover symptoms.to get a headache from a red wine rather than a
Body weight will play a role as well, as it affectswhite wine. Sulfites in the red wine may
the concentration of alcohol and other substancescontribute to a hangover in people who are
that ultimately make it into your blood stream.sensitive to them.
The concentration is actually affected by theThe best way to treat a hangover is Prevention.
amount of water in your body, which is partiallyAvoid alcohol and you won't get a hangover.
dependent upon weight but not entirely.Drinking in moderation will also help, mixing alcohol
When people do calculations of alcohol -how muchwith other beverages, drinking slowly. Drinking
alcohol will it take to achieve to certain bloodalcohol with food will reduce the concentration of
alcohol level- they look at what's called "lean bodyalcohol in your stomach. It will dilute it and be less
weight" because alcohol doesn't go into fat. So airritating to the stomach. Also when people drink
fat person isn't necessarily more resistant to theand eat at the same time, less alcohol is absorbed
effects of alcohol because they may have theinto their blood because the alcohol's absorbed
same amount of body water as somebody who'smore slowly into the blood stream.
very skinny.Some people argue that a drink in the morning
Men have more body water than women do, socures the hangover. The "hair of the dog that bit
if a man and a woman who weigh the same drinkyou"- a drink in the morning - might make you
the same quantity, the man will have a lowerfeel better because you stop the metabolism of
blood alcohol than the woman will because themethanol and the formation of formaldehyde
woman has less body water to dissolve thebecause you've got alcohol in your system again.
alcohol.That would help the withdrawal theory, too. If
It is however agreed that the intensity of ayou are withdrawing from alcohol, so to speak,
hangover is greatest when alcohol intake is higher,you give yourself a little bit of alcohol to "detox"
and it's certain that anyone will more then likelyyourself.
have a hangover if they drink enough to produceIf you have overindulged, you really don't have
concentration in the blood 1.5g of pure alcohol pertoo many options. I think for thousands of years
kilo of body weight. This means on average, 5-6probably there have been reported remedies for
drinks for a man of 80kg (176 lbs.) and 3-5 drinkshangovers. But there really is very little that has
for a woman 60 kg (132 lbs.).been scientifically proven to improve hangover.
One of the most predominant symptoms of aHowever I have tested several "hangover"
hangover is headache. MediLexicon's medicalproducts and I found one by the name "HANG
dictionary defines a headache as "pain in variousOVER" that works wonders in helping to cope
parts of the head not confined to the area ofwith the symptoms.
distribution of any nerve." Most people experienceHANG OVER is made of natural ingredients. 'Just
a headache, and many experience someas water is essential for life, it is essential to
gastrointestinal symptoms, predominantly nauseaconsume with HANG OVER to receive maximal
and sometimes vomiting. There is a sense ofeffect.' This powerful combination aids the body's
general malaise, of just not feeling well, feeling likenatural response in processing alcohol, by
your fatigued, can't concentrate. As well people'sconverting alcohol consumed into by-products that
mouths feel very dry because they'reyour body processes to reduce alcohol's negative
dehydrated.effects on you!
What is happening in the body to cause theseIt is also essential to rehydrate yourself. Though
symptoms is still not entirely known. There arepeople aren't as dehydrated as much as they feel
two major theories about the cause of adry. But actually electrolyte enhanced fluids, such
hangover.as Gatorade or PowerAde, would be very
The first theory is withdrawal theory, whichbeneficial especially if taken with HANG OVER.
suggests that a hangover is really a type of mildThis is especially important if you experienced any
alcohol withdrawal.vomiting. Also having some carbohydrates in case
If you look at a person's brain, even though theyour blood sugars are down, and having
person may be feeling fatigued and tired, theirsomething mild in the stomach if there's some
brain is actually stimulated. And that's what alcoholstomach irritation is a good idea.
withdrawal is."It's the hyper stimulatoryPlease when you drink, drink responsibly. Never
state."Chronic alcoholics, if they stop drinking getdrink and drive.