Liquid Courage, Zip Sauce, Truth Juice, Stutter Milk. Once it’s inside the body, alcohol–too often the Mother’s Milk at this season’s holiday shindigs–draws the attention of otherwise busy cells like a soap star in a shopping mall.
Alcohol is a “priority [for the body] to get out,” said Peter Sosnow, an emergency medicine doctor in Albany, N.Y. “It’s important to think of alcohol as a poison that in large enough quantities will kill us.”
In an empty stomach, alcohol is quickly absorbed into the blood, where it is whisked throughout the body and to the brain.
Blood-alcohol content begins to creep up, and the subtle first effects of intoxication begin to buzz through the nervous system.
Just as our brains begin to feel the frothy effects, the booze bomb squad–a host of enzymes called alcohol dehydrogenase, specifically engineered to break down alcohol–gets to work to help metabolize the alcohol into components that, ultimately, can be either used or expelled from the body.
While alcohol dehydrogenase generally can metabolize about one alcoholic drink an hour, it comes in limited supplies. Supplies differ from person to person, lifestyle to lifestyle.
“That’s why some people tend to get more intoxicated than others do,” said Albert Jagoda, a New York doctor of emergency medicine.
The path–to hangover, or not to hangover–begins here, an equation of lingering toxins and dehydration. Hangovers can defy even medical guesses, however.
“It’s difficult to predict who’s going to have a hangover and who’s not,” Jagoda said.
The only certain way to avoid the issue is, of course, to abstain.
Clear liquors–vodka, rather than bourbon or red wine–may be less likely to lead to hangovers. “Some of the common alcohols, particularly red wine or colored hard spirits, have substances called congeners” that can worsen hangovers for some people, Sosnow said.
TREAT YOUR OVERINDULGENCE
Carbonation
“The most classic [remedy] for people who are in denial of their hangover is Angostura bitters and ginger ale,” said John “Wiz” Wisniewski, a bar manager in Albany, N.Y. “Carbonation and the bitters soothe the stomach. The bitters contain traces of alcohol, so you’re getting a little bit of the hair of the dog.”
Bloody mary and beyond
“That’s an interesting one, because people will drink that as almost a medicinal type drink, but it still does have alcohol in it,” Wisniewski said. “I’ve heard of people putting a raw egg yolk in a drink, but it’s sort of myth. … The people I know with a hangover, it’s McDonald’s. A Big Mac and fries and a Coke.”
The medicinal approach
“I’d take Tylenol or Advil,” said Albert Jagoda, a New York doctor of emergency medicine. “But the really important thing is to remember that when you have a hangover, you’re dehydrated. Things like Gatorade, with some electrolytes, might be better than water.”
Have a V-8
“Honestly, for me, it’s a V-8 juice and Excedrin,” said Nick Ferandino, a bartender in Albany. “I’m not one of the people that condones a hair-of-the-dog approach.”
Carb up
“I think sugar is probably a good thing,” said Peter Sosnow, an emergency medicine doctor in Albany. “Carbohydrate intake helps to create a healthy balance in the liver, and food intake associated with water is probably also beneficial.”
