Planning to go on a drinking binge this New Year's Eve, or just soaking in the spirits? Take heed right away and avoid all that hard alcohol if you are looking to avoid the tough hangover that you may wake up with on New Year's Day. That's definitely not the best way to start the year, is it?
How hangover happens
The alcohol that we drink is ethyl alcohol, which our liver breaks down into several products, including one called acetaldehyde. It is toxic, and is one of the key reasons for a hangover. During its metabolism, it is processed by two enzymes that turn it into acetate. However, the liver may run out of one of these substances due to fat build-up, leading to an increase in acetaldehyde content in the body.
This acetaldehyde build-up and other processes concerned with its metabolism lead to symptoms like dehydration, headaches, nausea and stomach aches, all symptoms of hangover. This can be reduced if the body gets a good amount of sleep, when other bodily functions slow down and the body gets time to metabolise the rest of the acetaldehyde.
How to avoid a hangover
Other than the obvious "drink less" or "do not drink at all," a good idea could be to switch from alcohol like rum, whisky and vodka to fermented alcohol like beers that have plenty of hops, according to a study by German researchers.
"Drinking fermented alcoholic beverages like beer may be less harmful than hard spirits. Our data suggests that hops in beer might contribute to this effect of beer," Friedrich Schiller University's nutritional scientist Dr Ina Bergheim was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
The research — conducted on mice with low-hop content, high-hop content and pure alcohol — was published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism. The researchers found that mice fed beer with high hops content saw a lower fat build-up in their liver, which would help them clear acetaldehyde from the body faster. Transposed on humans, this means people will have less of a hangover — or none at all — if they consume "pale ales, India pale ale and pilsner-style lagers," the Daily Mail reported.
