The Science of a Hangover
Is There a Cure?

Hangovers are nature’s way of reminding us that we should not overindulge ourselves in the pleasures of alcohol. While there is no official hangover cure, there are definitely ways to alleviate a hangover. If you are reading this, then you are not stranger to the horrific symptoms associated with hangovers:

• Thirst
• Difficulty sleeping
• Headache
• Anxiety
• Fatigue
• Diarrhea
• Loss of appetite
• Increased heart rate and blood pressure
• Weakness
• Trouble concentrating
• Nausea
• Sensitivity to light and sound

Science has shown that what causes hangover symptoms are dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, low blood sugar, and the presence of acetaldehyde. What follows is a brief but thorough summary of the science of hangovers…knowing this stuff will not only impress that hot physiology professor of yours, but will also get you one step closer to helping you prevent and/or treat your hangovers…so read on!

Dehydration

Have you ever wondered why you need to go to the bathroom every five minutes when you’re out drinking? Well, alcohol is what scientists call a “diuretic” (from the Greek, to urinate thoroughly), which, as the term suggests, is a substance that makes you pee!

Anyway, when alcohol enters your blood, the pituitary gland blocks the secretion of vasopressin, a.k.a. “The Antidiuretic Hormone.” In the absence of vasopressin, kidneys cease to re-absorb fluids back into the body and, instead, immediately divert fluids to the bladder for excretion. In fact, studies have shown that for every 8oz of alcoholic beverages you consume, your body eliminates 20-32oz of water!

Although you may feel extremely relieved when you can finally let it all out after standing in the bathroom line for over thirty minutes, you are actually taking the first step in creating your hangover: you are eliminating vital water reserves from your system that your brain and other organs need to function properly; but when you gotta go, you gotta go! At the same time though, you can take comfort in knowing that urinating is an important step in minimizing or preventing your hangover: eliminating toxins!

So after a long night of drinking and pissing you’ve all but depleted most of your body’s water. You may have also thrown up a few times making you lose even more water! You wake up with dry mouth, a throbbing headache, and can barely get out of bed. Well my friend, this is your body telling you loud and clear that you are dehydrated and need to replenish your bodies vitals to alleviate your hangover. Dehydration-related headaches occur because the reduced presence of water in your system causes organs to “steal” water from your brain and cause it to shrink and pull on the membranes that attach it to your skull. Ouch!! While there is no “hangover cure”, there are many things you can do to prevent a hangover before it happens.

Electrolyte Imbalance

First off, what is an electrolyte? An electrolyte is a substance containing free ions (electrically charged particles) that behaves as an electrically conductive medium. Simply put, an electrolyte is a material that dissolves in water to give a solution that conducts an electric current (for example, dissolving table salt into water). Examples of your body’s most common electrolytes includes Sodium (Na⁺), Potassium (K⁺) and Chloride (Cl^-).

Why do I care about electrolytes? Simple answer: because your body needs them in order to perform its functions and to get over your hangover. If you want extra credit, you should know that humans (and most living organisms) require a subtle and complex electrolyte balance between the intracellular and extracellular environments. In particular, the maintenance of precise osmotic gradient of electrolytes is important. Such gradients affect and regulate the hydration of the body, blood pH, and are critical for nerve and muscle function.

As you may have guessed, when you pee out all that expensive beer you’d been drinking all night, you are getting rid of a lot more than just water. Along with water, urinating expels meaningful quantities of key electrolytes (sodium and potassium) which are essential for proper body function and hangover prevention. Low levels of sodium and potassium in your body usually result in headaches, nausea and fatigue.

Low Blood Sugar

A good supply of glucose is essential for your body to properly function. Glucose is the main source of energy for the human body, and it is naturally produced in the liver (through a process known as gluconeogenesis). The energy produced in this process is stored in the liver itself in the form of glycogen.

When alcohol is consumed, your body needs to quickly metabolize (process) the alcohol and eliminate it. Alcohol metabolism takes a significant amount of energy and your body quickly runs through its glycogen reserves. Since your liver is busy processing the alcohol it cannot keep up with your body’s demand for glycogen, and hypoglycemia ensues.

Because your brain primarily runs on glucose, this lack of glucose contributes to hangover symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, mood disturbances, and decreased attention and concentration.

Acetaldehyde

Dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and hypoglycemia are three critical culprits of your hangover; but they are just the tip of the iceberg! Scientists have concluded that one of the main causes of hangovers is acetaldehyde, a highly toxic molecule that your body produces as it metabolizes alcohol. Acetaldehyde is a powerful muscle poison, roughly 30 times more toxic than alcohol! At higher concentrations, it causes toxic effects, such as a rapid pulse, sweating, skin flushing, nausea, and vomiting.

Alcohol undergoes a two-step process in its metabolism, most of which takes place in the liver (see figure). First, an enzyme known as alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) metabolizes alcohol to an intermediate product, acetaldehyde; then a second enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) and glutathione metabolizes acetaldehyde to acetate, which is non toxic. The reason why glutathione is so important during the metabolism of acetaldehyde is that it contains large amounts of the amino acid cysteine, which actually attaches to acetaldehyde to break it down into acetate.

The liver does a great job at eliminating acetaldehyde when it is present in limited amounts; however, the human body can only process acetaldehyde at a rate of roughly 7 grams of ethanol per hour mainly because the body’s reserves of glutathion are quickly depleted. That means that if you drink 5 beers it would take your body roughly 10 hours to eliminate all of the toxic acetaldehyde (12 oz of beer contains roughly 14 grams of ethanol)! Having toxins in your body for that long will no doubt make you regret having had so much to drink the night before.

So now that you know all of this stuff, you will surely be able to know when to stop drinking to avoid a hangover right? NOT! Unfortunately, by the time symptoms such as headache, fatigue, nausea, lack of coordination, and dry mouth manifest themselves it means that you are already dehydrated, you are experiencing electrolyte imbalance hypoglycemia, and acetaldehyde has already started doing its harm. This is why it is so important to know your limits and drink responsibly…but as we all know this is easier said than done!

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