As sure as New Year’s Eve is Dec. 31, someone somewhere is going to have a hangover on the first day of the year.
And while many people want to try to ignore the head-thumping, stomach-churning consequences of too much alcohol, others will want to discuss their symptoms and compare remedies with their buddies.
Either way, what happens to the body as it drags its sorry self into "the day after" is something that many people don’t want to hear about or acknowledge.
So, without condoning the consumption of alcohol, let’s spell it out, just for good measure.
As you are imbibing during holiday festivities, the body is producing enzymes to help break down or metabolize the toxins in the alcohol. Too much of the toxins can lead to the symptoms of a hangover, which include irritated stomach, dehydration and the dreaded headache.
Many people throughout time have tried to come up with a cure for a hangover. One sure way is not to drink at all.
"Part of the reason we drink is that we enjoy the buzz," said Fred Freitag, a osteopath and assistant director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago.
However, alcohol causes the blood vessels to swell or dilate, which can cause the boom, boom throbbing headache. Freitag points out that among other things, alcohol is a natural diuretic, which leads to dehydration.
Freitag suggests drinking one glass of water for every glass of alcohol, eating while drinking and simply slowing down alcohol intake to avoid hangover symptoms.
Other headache culprits come in the form of congeners, a chemical naturally found in red wine and other alcoholic beverages. That alone could cause a headache.
If you notice a more severe reaction to certain alcoholic beverages, such as red wine, stay away from it, Freitag said.
The effect of too much alcohol on the stomach is not good either. If the stomach is empty, alcohol will be absorbed into the bloodstream faster.
"It’s irritating to the stomach," Freitag said. "That’s when you get that queasy, yucky feeling." Too much alcohol can act as a nervous system depressant too. Hangovers can make for a disturbed sleep cycle. People may feel like they haven’t had a good night’s sleep.
"The body clock is messed up," Freitag said.
The frequency of alcohol ingestion determines the effect it has on a person. Someone who is a frequent drinker has more chance of producing the enzymes in the liver to break down the alcohol than a teetotaler would.
Body size is also a factor. Smaller people tend to metabolize alcohol faster.
Having more than one kind of alcoholic drink is fine. Freitag says the theory that mixing drinks will give you a worse hangover is a fallacy.
Brian Hutmacher, co-owner of Peso’s Kitchen and Lounge in Seattle, recently challenged customers to come up with a way to "Cure the Demon Hangover" in an attempt to market their new breakfasts.
"Most of our customers have been here the night before or somewhere else," Hutmacher said.
A Renton man and a Seattle man tied for first place. One submitted a concoction that includes a raw egg, vodka and beef bouillon, the other Pepcid, Alka Seltzer and fruit juice.
"We got quite a few responses," Hutmacher said. There were more than 100 entries.
Eating a high fat meal before drinking alcohol is a suggestion Freitag doesn’t advocate. But eating a burger or other high fat food will help slow the absorption of alcohol, Freitag said.
Taking some honey can reduce hangover symptoms before they start because the sugar helps break down the consumed alcohol. Apples or strawberries might help too. Putting salt on food and consuming some sports drinks may work well for symptoms, too, because they replace sodium lost because of dehydration.
"A B-vitamin or pain reliever du jour," Freitag said. "Even if you don’t have much of a headache, take something."
Reporter Christina Harper: 425-339-3491 or harper@heraldnet.com.
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