The spins, a splitting headache, the taste of beer still in your mouth . . .
You swear you’ll never drink again and wonder how something that made you feel so good last night can make you feel so utterly miserable the next day. Wonder no more. Science comes to the rescue of your confused, dehydrated brain.
The hangover is due to toxic effects of alcohol and your body’s attempts to get rid of it. Although alcohol initially causes mild euphoria, the side effects of large doses, such as dehydration and toxicity, stay with you until the toxins are expelled from your body.
Alcohol’s diuretic property is responsible for the frequent trips to the washroom after you’ve had a few drinks, which causes your body to expel most of the water you take in. Dehydration is also responsible for the pounding headache commonly experienced the morning after. When your brain cells get dehydrated, your brain shrinks slightly and puts a strain on the membranes that attach the brain to the skull, causing the headache. Along with losing water, frequent urination causes your body to lose sugars and salts that provide energy and are necessary for proper muscle function, leaving you feeling nauseous, weak, and disoriented.
As if alcohol isn’t bad enough for you, most popular drinks contain other impurities that contribute to the hangover. For example, red wines have a high content of congeners, toxic chemicals that are formed during fermentation, causing horrendous hangovers. Scientific research shows that brandy causes the worst hangover, followed by red wine, rum, whisky, white wine, gin, and vodka.
Generally, clear liquors cause milder hangovers, although drinking excessive amounts of any type of alcoholic beverage will have its consequences. In addition, different types of drinks contain different impurities, some of which can cause nasty side effects when mixed together. So, mixing different kinds of drinks will leave you with a worse hangover than drinking one type of booze throughout the night.
So, next time you’re hugging the bowl the morning after, you can take comfort (or not) in knowing what’s happening to your body. Scientists offer one final thought on hangovers: drink in moderation or abstain. The bottom line is: you know it’s bad for you, and if you drink anyway, be prepared to deal with the consequences.
