The vermouth at noon. To eat, white wine. No coffee or dessert, just a shot, that a day is a day . Those rounds of beer, those summer reds at the beach bar, that drink at nightfall… Does it sound familiar? Sure you do, because they are summer customs deeply rooted in a culture that has work to do to assimilate everything that alcohol consumption entails , but also ways so that its side effects are as mild as possible. If you're going to get involved in these vacation rituals, it won't hurt to be restrained, show restraint, and follow a few simple rules.
Because drinking too much is not very funny: the morning after excess you wake up exhausted, with a headache, digestive discomfort, fatigue, drowsiness, apathy ... and an insatiable thirst, an undeniable trace of the bad time that your body has gone through. "Alcohol is never recommended because it is a toxic compound for our body," advances Clara Muñoz, dietitian-nutritionist at the Júlia Farré Dietitians-Nutritionists center. Even in small amounts, when it is metabolized in the liver, it begins to release ethanol and acetaldehyde, two substances that are harmful to health. In addition, whether in the form of beer or Cosmopolitan, it is the Trojan horse into which an army of empty calories sneaks into us: each gram of alcohol provides 7 kilocalories and little - if not zero - nutritional value.
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It is common for all of the above to lead us to wonder why we have a weakness for alcoholic beverages. "They are fruitive, they give us pleasure when we take them," Muñoz replies. Hence, during the summer , when life habits tend to relax and social activity increases, their consumption increases. And with him, the agony of the next day. The best way to combat the dreaded hangover is abstinence, but when it is too late to follow this rule there are ways to alleviate it, even before the alcohol takes effect.
Choosing dark drinks is paid the next day
"It's not that I drank too much, it's that I mixed wine with beer." We have all heard similar excuses to justify a monumental hangover, and some still believe them when everything indicates that there is no where to take them; there is certainly no scientific literature that shows that combining beverages magnifies the effects of alcohol. The only commonly accepted formula is that the more you drink, the worse your hangover is. It will be because alcohol clouds the senses that there are those who do not see the obvious. What there are studies of is that drinking beer before opening the wine, or mixing the red with the white, does not increase the intensity of the hangover: this is what a study published last year in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
So forget about the myths and focus on the scientific evidence, there is some. For example, certain drinks have been found to produce worse drunkenness — and hangovers — than others. And that there is a simple way to identify them: just look at their color. According to an article published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism , darker drinks weigh more the next day than lighter ones. In other words, if you've gone too far with cognac, red wine, rum, or whiskey, your prospects will be worse than those of those who got their hands on vodka or gin. The explanation? Darker drinks have a higher concentration of congeners, which are compounds that are generated during the production process, which add color and flavor to the result, and irritate blood vessels, which can make the ordeal of hangovers worse for some people .
Neither cane nor coffee: the best (in the absence of youth) is water
"Are you hungover? Well, have a beer! ”. You still hear this recipe to counteract the effects of excesses with alcohol, but the truth is that — to put it mildly — it is not the best one can do. "Alcohol dehydrates us, so it is advisable to avoid substances that make us lose more water, such as more alcohol, tea or coffee, " says Muñoz. And he points out that the best option is to drink plenty of water during the day. It is not that it is a great discovery, but you may not have considered that it also helps to drink water between glasses: "This way you make sure you are counteracting dehydration and the hangover will be a little less", suggests the expert.
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Being aware of hydration is also something that must be done at the time of ingesting an alcoholic drink (it is convenient to know that the effects of alcohol begin to be noticed between 30 minutes and 2 hours after ingestion, and the body can take between 3 and 4 hours to eliminate the one containing two beers ). “Once ingested, alcohol passes from the digestive system to the blood, and there it is distributed according to the water content of our body. The less water we have, the less it is diluted. Let's say you will be more focused and that person will be more sensitive to its effects. With a small amount that for another could be tolerable, it could be more toxic ”, as explained to this magazine by the family doctor Francisco Camarelles. If to this you add that the amount of water we have decreases with age to the point that after 50 years it can be less than 50% of the body composition, there is no other choice but to keep in mind both the alcoholic graduation that marks the label as the date of birth that reflects the DNI.
Steak to toast, asparagus to replace
Water is fine, and the advice to stay hydrated is even more important in the summer, when just being around requires constant hydration. But, as much as your body only asks for water, after a night of excess the best thing you can do is eat. Yes, eating even if the mere idea of passing something solid down your throat is repulsive. It is important to consume food to recover the water and vitamins lost, and not just anybody will do: no hamburgers, kebabs, pizzas or pre-cooked dishes. According to Muñoz, this type of food usually has a high amount of salt, which, in addition to promoting fluid retention, promotes the sensation of thirst. "And the least we need is to keep getting dehydrated." If this need to save all water can be found on the positive side, it is undoubtedly that it puts on a tray a perfect excuse to rest ...
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Foods that make the liver work, such as fried foods and fatty preparations, are also ruled out (and to treat this organ as it deserves, which is responsible for cleaning the blood, it must be borne in mind that its work loses efficiency with age ). Therefore, even if it is not the first thing that comes to mind, the expert recommends opting for fruits and vegetables rich in water, such as melon and cucumber, and opting for dishes such as chickpea salads or a glass of gazpacho (There are at least 400 ways to make it!). Asparagus, both green and white, seem to be good allies in alleviating hangover discomfort . According to a study by Jeju National University in South Korea, the minerals and amino acids in this food protect liver cells and calm the effects of excess alcohol. Apart from fruits and vegetables (some more than others), there are foods like milk, eggs and tuna that have also been linked to a more bearable hangover.
As with water, food helps to minimize the effects of any alcoholic beverage when ingested (“it is not advisable to consume alcohol on an empty stomach”, recalls Muñoz, which, in figures, means avoiding it for between 2 and 4 hours after the last meal). “Most of the alcohol is absorbed in the small intestine, so that when drinking on an empty stomach it passes quickly into the intestine, producing a high peak in blood concentration . On the contrary, if it is drunk on a full stomach, alcohol is absorbed slowly because gastric emptying takes longer to occur and the peak concentration in the blood is more moderate, which is why it is less toxic to the body ”, explains Xavier Parés Casasampera, professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. The difference with respect to the perfect menu to pass a hangover is that, when what one wants is to delay the absorption of the substance, it is better to opt for a food rich in fat such as a steak or a piece of cheese. Again a positive function of this nutrient that helps to remember that there are foods that are good to eat even if they are pure fat.
