It’s a tradition to ring in New Year’s with a glass of bubbly. And if you’re attending a party this weekend, chances are you’ll enjoy a favorite cocktail, glass of wine, or bottle of beer.
But the truth is, while you might like the taste of a full-bodied red or a smooth whiskey, drink too much of it and your body will react, or more like rebel.
“It’s really viewed as a poison by the body, so the body tries to get rid of it,” explains Roberta H. Anding, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
A good way to avoid overindulging is to consume no more than one standard-size drink per hour, she says. That means four or five ounces of wine, a 12-ounce bottle of beer, and a mixed drink with no more than one ounce of alcohol.
Any more than that and you’ll likely engage in embarrassing behavior — a big no-no if you’re socializing with colleagues. And come morning your head will pound, your stomach will be sour, and you’ll feel exhausted. In other words, you’ll have a hangover.
If you’re female, alcohol’s effects will hit you faster because women have less alcohol dehydrogenase, a liver enzyme that helps the body metabolize booze. Women also tend to have a higher percentage of body fat than men, which leaves their bodies with less water to help dilute alcohol, explains Anding, an adjunct instructor of nutrition at Rice University in Houston.
“So it’s really not being sexist when we say that women can’t drink as much as men,” she says. “It’s not sexist, it’s physiology.”
In addition to gender, genetics can play a role in alcohol’s effects. For example, Asian women make less alcohol dehydrogenase than white women, so their tolerance is even lower. And there also is the question of how your body reacts to other ingredients in alcoholic beverages, such as congeners — byproducts of fermentation that are more highly concentrated in darker colored alcohol, such as bourbon, whiskey, red wine, brandy, and tequila. Darker colored alcohol is typically known to cause worse hangover symptoms than white or clear alcohol like vodka, which has fewer congeners.
“You individually may not tolerate something or tolerate it differently from friends,” Anding says.
The best way to avoid these unpleasant aftereffects — short of abstaining — is to alternate drinks with glasses of water to stay hydrated, Anding says. Also, taking control of your glass, especially if you are drinking wine, is key. When your host comes with a refill, have the glass in your hand or put your napkin over the top to prevent an automatic re-pour, she advises.
“You can easily lose track of how much you’ve had to drink when someone else is pouring for you,” she says.
You also can simply refrain from drinking after that first glass or toast.
“People always notice the first glass you take but not the ones after,” she says. “Have the first glass of champagne and no one is going to know if you have sparkling water after.”
Anding’s other tips include:
Eat a half a turkey sandwich before the party. The combination of protein and carbohydrates provides a buffer for your stomach lining, which becomes easily irritated from absorbing alcohol. Snack on non-greasy foods like pretzels with your drink, too.
Go for quality vs. quantity. Splurge on that $12 glass of wine. You’re more likely to sip it and less likely to drink four or five of them.
Don’t mix booze with medication. Be particularly careful about not drinking if you take antidepressants. Alcohol is a drug, a depressant that also affects the central nervous system.
Because the exact cause of the hangover remains elusive, so does a surefire remedy, Anding says. “There is no magic cure here,” she says, and feeling better takes time. However, there are some things you can do to help yourself.
Sip water. Be sure to drink, but don’t gulp, which can further nauseate you. Rehydrating is important because alcohol is dehydrating. If you have vomited, sip a sports drink to replace lost electrolytes.
Avoid greasy food. This will further irritate your angry stomach. Instead, eat crackers, rice, a bagel, dry cereal, or similar bland food.
Take aspirin or other pain reliever. Headaches are one of the most common hangover symptoms. Experts are at odds over what exactly causes them, Anding says. It could be dehydration, a compromise in immune function, congeners, or alcohol metabolites. Remedies like Alka-Seltzer and the new Blowfish, which contain sodium bicarbonate and aspirin, may also help, but Anding advises going easy on the aspirin, a known stomach irritant.
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