Do you swear by the glass of water before your next alcoholic drink?
German scientists explain whether this habit really protects against the rude awakening.
Some take vitamins in the form of dietary supplements before the party, others swear by the liter of water just before bed: a lot is tried to prevent the hangover the next day.
But does water really help against the hangover?
German scientists come to the conclusion that drinking water between beers, cocktails and wine glasses has no effect on the well-being the next day.
Drinking water helps with a hangover - is it just a misconception?
In a study, biologists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz had investigated how the hangover could be alleviated after a boozy night.
240 test subjects got drunk in the name of science
, as reported by the
Berliner Morgenpost
. For four hours there was beer, white wine, shandy or wine spritzer for the test subjects - as much as they wanted.
According to molecular biologist Patrick Schmitt,
drinking water wouldn't have helped anyway
.
“It is a misconception that drinking water helps avoid a hangover,” says Schmitt.
According to the results of a study published in the 1950s, the body actually excreted more water when drinking alcohol.
“However, the wrong conclusions were drawn from these results,” said the scientist.
"It was believed that the body excreted more water and was therefore dehydrated - and that was simply accepted as a coherent explanation for why we have a hangover."
However, this has never been tested and confirmed.
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Study comes to surprising results
Patrick Schmitt therefore decided to conduct his own study and observe the hydration of his subjects. The study found that alcohol consumption
did not lead to dehydration
despite increased fluid excretion
. "This means that the body does not lose any significant amounts of water," says Schmitt. "The recommendation to drink plenty of water when consuming alcohol is based on precisely this misconception," he explains. "Because the body is not really dehydrated, drinking water, together with alcohol
absolutely no control over
,
if you get a hangover or not
."
Only if you drink the alcohol in a very concentrated form - i.e. drinks with a higher alcohol content - the alcohol content in the stomach is very high for a very short time.
In this case, the stomach lining would be a little less stressed if you drink water, says Schmitt.
However, that would have no effect on a hangover anyway
.
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