PREVENTING THE ALL-AMERICAN HANGOVER

Dr. James M. Schaefer

Research Professor of Anthropology

Union College, Schenectady, NY

A hangover is the result of drinking too much. Too much alcohol and the chemical soup that accompanies beer, wine and spirits. So much for cause and effect.

Those who have never suffered from a hangover, I can tell you that mere words cannot begin to describe the feeling of a Monster Coyote Hangover Morning. But for those who have even had a mild hangover, some of the following may ring true. You wake up and immediately want to go back to sleep. You feel weak, queasy, nauseated or actually retching, vomiting. Worse yet, the dry heaves, when there is nothing left to puke. You are clammy, warm, sweating and desperate to cool off. Your head is pounding. You are irritable and have mild to uncontrolled shakiness. Any noise seems amplified way beyond your level of tolerance and light from any source hurts your eyes like its a halogen strobe light from Hell. The inside of your mouth tastes like the Russian Army had just changed fatigues after a forced march. You are so flat that getting up is out of the question - even if you need to struggle to the commode or sink. At least the ceramic is cool. American Standard registers. Every cell of your body is screaming at you. And over and over you think -"If this is living, I would be better off dead." You are suffering the from an all-American hangover

Besides swearing off drinking, what can you do to reduce or eliminate hangovers in your future? Since a high blood alcohol level (exceeding .12 %) is often the culprit, the first and most important strategy is to learn to drink responsibly and within your bounds. This involves limiting your intake of alcohol to a few drinks per hour, eating food that keeps your stomach busy, avoiding salty snacks that make you thirsty, alternating alcoholic drinks with water or tasty, attractive nonalcoholic drinks, focusing on social activities, conversation, games, and meeting people. In other words, drink smart.

You might consider including a hangover remedy in your drinking strategy. In today's marketplace there are two types of hangover prevention products: an activated carbon caplet that you take before, during and after drinking, and those that primarily treat headache, unsettled stomach, replenish vitamins and certain herbs which you take the morning after the damage is done. You could use a folk remedy such as downing a raw egg with oysters, eating burnt toast, or taking a drink of the dog that bit you; the proverbial the 'hair of the dog.' There have been some crazy ideas to treat the hangover. But let's look at the contemporary products.

The first type (e.g., Hangover Helper or Sob'r-K), is a pharmaceutically refined activated carbon product that acts as a super-absorbent in the gut, where most alcohol is absorbed into the body. The activated carbon coats the lining of the stomach and small intestine trapping toxins, called congeners, which also contribute to hangovers. It prevents them from entering into the bloodstream. Activated carbon is a safe, natural product without side effects, save darker stools the day after its use. In my double-blind study of activated carbon versus a sugar pill, most respondents reported feeling much better upon waking up and feeling more "in control" during the evening of drinking at a bar where the study was conducted.

The morning after hangover remedies (e.g., Dr. Seltzer's Hangover Cure, Hangover Stopper, Clear Head) are usually a combination of an analgesic (aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen), a calcium carbonate of some sort, vitamins (B complex, C, E and A) and assorted herbal concoctions (willow bark, saw palmetto, yohimbe bark, etc.). While their effectiveness on hangovers has not been studied, these are included to relieve, restore, settle or flush out ones system.

So whether you are at an after business cocktail session, entertaining clients at dinner, or having a guys or gals night out, it pays to have a drinking plan in mind which might include a hangover preventative. By drinking smart and using activated carbon, for example, so you can enjoy your event and wake up fresh, feeling great, and ready to take on the day. Business deals should not suffer the pain of a hangover!