Causes and Prevention of Hangover Symptoms
Understanding the Effects of Alcohol on the Human Body
Alcohol derived from grain has enjoyed a rich and often controversial history. For early civilizations, the "god-like effects" produced by consuming beer eventually led to mandatory rationing laws, and even Queen Elizabeth reportedly kept her own personal brewmaster. But far from celestial intervention, the effects of ethyl alcohol consumption are empirically explained by science.
Understanding Intoxication and Its Effects
According to a study conducted by Brown University, the effects of consuming alcohol can be felt as early as 20 minutes after taking your first drink, with 20% being absorbed through your stomach and 80% through your small intestine. Once absorbed, three diligent and speedy little enzymes work on it until it eventually becomes an acetate. Finally, it is neatly expunged from your body as simple carbon dioxide and water. A tidy and impressive little process, it is also very taxing on the liver, as ethanol, once ingested, quickly becomes the highly toxic and overall disagreeable chemical compound acetaldehyde.
Acetaldehyde is so disagreeable, in fact, that it is considered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to be a "probable human carcinogen." And although it exists naturally in plants in small amounts, mostly the compound is found to be an intermediate product of "incomplete wood combustion in fireplaces and wood stoves, coffee roasting, burning of tobacco, vehicle exhaust fumes, and coal refining and waste processing."
In addition to producing acetaldehyde, ethanol interacts with various transmitters and receptors in the brain, disrupting its delicate neurochemical balance and causing both the effects of intoxication and withdrawal. According to Emedicine, the latter is also in part due to the fact that the body is constantly attempting to maintain homeostasis, a sort of all-systems-go check down status, and initiates "counter-regulatory mechanisms and processes" at the introduction of ethanol (or any substance that seeks to alter this balance).
Once triggered, these processes run with the devout and total aim to return the body to check down as quickly as possible no matter what. So when the last hint of alcohol has been banished from your system the full tilt activity and frenzied to-do must then struggle to shift gears and slowly rev down, thereby producing the unfortunate yet purely consequential effects of withdrawal.
Avoid Alcohol Hangovers with Hydration
Severe alcohol withdrawal, though, mostly develops over time and is based on chemical dependency and overall consumption rate, so the occasional drinker can combat most effects by staying well-hydrated. To understand why, know that ethyl alcohol loves water, adores it immensely, and binds with it on a molecular level whenever it can, thus gaining unquestioned entry to anywhere in the body that water is allowed. This includes the exclusive and usually stalwart blood-brain barrier, which puts alcohol on a fast track to the brain and other vital organs, including the liver, heart, and lungs and explains why the effects are felt so quickly after your first drink.
In addition, alcohol gives the green light for the kidneys, which normally regulate internal water and electrolyte levels, to open their flood gates, as it were. This causes, according to Kennesaw State University "chem cases," the sudden and complete rush of all internal liquids to the bladder, thereby flushing the body of water and crucial vitamins and minerals.Consequences of Drinking are Biological
There really is no way, besides abstaining, to prevent all of the internal bodily effects caused by alcohol consumption, but these tips and suggestions should help minimize the effects. The following indications are common throughout most medical websites:
Hangover Prevention:
- Pace yourself. The faster you drink, the more acetaldehyde accumulates in your system, and the liver can only process about 1 oz. of alcohol/hour.
- Make sure you drink on a full stomach. Food absorbs alcohol, decreasing BAC.
- Stay hydrated. Drinking water before, during, and after consumption will counteract most dehydrating effects.
- Drink in moderation. Once consumed, alcohol becomes poisonous and the less of it your body has to metabolize the better you will feel (that is, the next morning).
Damage Control:
- Get plenty of rest. Some studies have shown alcohol to prevent restful sleep, but do your best to get some. This gives your body a chance to rehydrate and focus on processing the bad stuff.
- Eating and drinking (not alcohol) may not sound like good suggestions, but they are important steps to replacing vital vitamins and minerals that have been depleted from your body. An alternative is to take vitamin pills and drink lots of juice.
- Remember that acetaminophen (e.g., Tylenol) when paired with alcohol can damage your liver over time, so take some only when absolutely necessary.
Everyone enjoys the uplifting and relaxing effects of alcohol from time to time but at the end of the day it is still a poison, and the body is built to deal with it only in certain predetermined ways. There is no magic pill to preventing a hangover but hopefully with a little moderation, planning, and forethought you may not even know that you've got one.
Ethanol, Enjoy!
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Anatomy of Alcohol
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