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Introduction & Preventative Medicine
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The Next Morning
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 Hangover Medicine
By Belly Buddy David Lauterbach
What can I say, New Year's Eve is here... the most drinkin'est day of the year. If you're a frequent Belly reader, then I'm sure you already know how to drink... and probably have joined us in referring to New Year's Eve as Amateur's Night.
But whether you're new at this drinking thing, or consider yourself an old pro like the Buddies do, there is one certain thing that we all have in common... the hangover.
We're not going to sit here and tell you to drink water and take aspirin before you pass out, every beer-blooded American knows that one. But here's a few things to keep in mind that you may not have known about when you're out drinking in the new year...
PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE
Fuel.
We all know that you shouldn't go out on an empty stomach... but do you know why? Eating before you drink or while you are drinking helps absorb the alcohol and slows the rate of intoxication. If you can slow it down, it doesn't hit the bloodstream as quickly, which may reduce the chances of a hangover. Your body absorbs alcohol through the stomach lining, so try eating bread or starchy foods like pasta before you settle down on a bar stool for a long winter's drink.
Eating during the night can't hurt, but intoxication can impede or stop digestion, so keep that in mind as you're biting into that eighth White Castle at 3AM.
Hydration.
Your body can process approximately one ounce of alcohol per hour. Calm down Mr. Peterson, there is only about one ounce of alcohol in a beer (also equivalent to one shot or one glass of wine). Most guys I know can put away 2 to 3 beers an hour, which is why we're all idiots inside of 3 hours. If you want to stay out of the asshole club, try drinking a glass of water after every few beers. This will slow you down. but it serves another important purpose. Alcohol is a diuretic (any substance that increases the flow of urine). This means (simply) that your urine volume will increase because water lost from your kidneys is not reabsorbed into your blood... you dehydrate if you do not replace this water (more on this on the next page). The best ratio of water to alcohol would be 1:1, but where's the fun in that?
Mother Goose.
We've all heard the unsuitable-for-nursery rhyme "Liquor before beer, in the clear... Beer before liquor, never sicker." Mother Goose is only partially right as far as we can tell. Here are the facts: Your body will have a tough time dealing with multiple types of spirits. Also, because beer is carbonated it will cause your body to absorb the alcohol quicker than, say, a glass of wine. But alcohol mixed with Seven-Up or Coke is just as carbonated as a beer, so the absorption rate is the same. Whether or not drinking one before the other will make you "sicker" is open for debate, but the carbonated route will get you drunk faster.
Try taking a multi-vitamin or a B-complex before you drink. Recent studies show that vitamin B12 injections have been particularly useful in de-toxifying the body during and after drinking. Even if these don't help your hangover, your body probably hasn't received a vitamin since your mother made you take Flintstone's chewables.
Make sure it's a cold one.
Your body absorbs liquid at body temperature. Warm beer is closer to this temperature than cold beer, so it is absorbed faster into the blood stream. I bet a properly chilled shot of Jaeger takes days to be absorbed.
Order from the top shelf.
If you get what you pay for and don't pay enough, you may be drinking the swill with lots of impurities and congeners (by-products of alcohol metabolism). Dark rums and dark beers tend to have a lot more crap in them that the body has a tough time with (don't even get us started on dirty beer taps). There are plenty of exceptions, but for the most part, the lighter the beverage the less likely your body is to revolt the next morning.
Beware of KGB.
By now, many of you have heard about RU-21 (marketed by Spirit Sciences) and other "Anti-Hangover" pills. The original "KGB Pill" was developed at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and is now being marketed in the United States. RU-21 claims to regulate the process of alcohol metabolism. The pill was never really proven to work by the KGB, and was then dropped from their program and later declassified. So it was a pill developed by the KGB, that much is true... but does it work? Probably no better than our advice to take a multi-vitamin or B-complex (RU-21 is really no more than a nutritional supplement). Also consider the fact that you need to take one pill before or during every alcoholic drink to reduce the negative effects of consumption. At about $5 for 20 pills at GNC that's $6 for each case of beer you drink. Personally, I'll wait until someone in the U.S. with an institute attached to their name does a study on this (or until the next time I have a six-pack of Stella Artois).
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We'd like to hear a few of your own remedies for hangovers and your opinions of pills like RU-21. Let us know in our forum⇒
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Asprin and water at bedtime.
Since asprin is a drug, our lawyer (and drinking buddy) tells us we can't take an official stand on the oldest and bestest trick in the book... two asprin before bed. Aspirin can irritate your stomach (if that's possible) and may cause ulcers or bleeding problems if combined with alcohol. More importantly, studies reveal that Tylenol (acetaminophen) combined with alcohol can cause severe liver damage. Well, so can drinking yourself into a stupor every night, but to each his own.
But of course, drink as much water as you can handle before you hit the sack. A bottle of Gatorade or the like is great too because it replenishes the body of lost nutrients and electrolytes.
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