Drinking alcohol has become as much a part of a festive tradition as presents, decorations, and gifts for some. But when any nectar is said to become rancid if overdone, what kind of rancid will alcohol, which is already rancid, become? Do you know what happens inside your body when you have a hangover the day after drinking alcohol? Do you know why you feel so bad? If you don't know, you need to know.
Many people like to drink alcohol. Because a small amount of alcohol gives an initial euphoria. It makes you feel happy. It stimulates the brain's feel-good system by releasing the body's chemicals dopamine and endorphins.
But after a while, when you drink too much, it eventually suppresses certain brain functions and slows your heart and breathing.
Why Does Alcohol Cause Vomiting?
Ethanol, the first-stage breakdown product, makes you vomit. When you get high after drinking, the amount of ethanol in your blood is monitored by an area called the postrema. It's a part of the brain that keeps track of unwanted substances in your blood. If you've eaten certain foods that cause vomiting and diarrhea, your posttrema is telling your body to get rid of harmful substances.
Ethanol has the same effect. Postrema works with very fine tolerance. And once your body reaches a certain level of ethanol, a natural limit, Postrema instructs your stomach to contract. Makes you feel nauseous. Trying to stop this is like trying to stop a tidal wave. You may have noticed the very short time between drinking with gusto and realizing you're about to vomit.
Disulfiram (Antabuse) is a drug used to treat chronic alcoholism. This stops the ethanol from further breaking down after you drink it. It immediately causes a hangover and induces vomiting. This is a form of aversion therapy.
What is the Cause of the Hangover?
Unfortunately, there is no cure for drunkenness or a hangover. You have to wait for the addiction to clear. The liver metabolizes 8 to 12 grams of alcohol per hour. The only way to reduce addiction is to stop drinking. This allows the alcohol to flow out of your brain. The liver can do its job.
It's not clear why we feel so terrible when we're hungover, other than vomiting. But this is thought to be another effect of ethanol and congeners (a non-alcoholic chemical compound produced by fermentation). These include oils, minerals, and methanol (wood alcohol). These can cause blindness when consumed in large doses.
Darker-colored alcohols contain higher concentrations of congeners. Red wine in particular causes a severe hangover. Because it contains a vasoconstrictor. It constricts your blood vessels, causing a throbbing headache. But vodka doesn't do that much harm. Because "pure" vodka is just a mixture of alcohol and water.
The only thing that can help reduce a hangover after drinking too much is drinking a glass of water before going to bed. Alcohol stops your pituitary gland from producing vasopressin, a diuretic hormone that controls urine production, so you lose more water than you consume. This causes dehydration which affects the blood vessels. This leads to headaches.
If you don't do these things, your only option is to wait for the hangover to clear.
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