Hey there guys, I'm Jesse Crowe, The Travelling Scientist, here in Austin, Texas
and today, I'm gonna be showing you how science can cure a hangover!
so I've been doing a lot of research lately on hangovers
and I thought I should compile all of the science and knowledge that we have
together into a sort of hangover cure
but the key to understanding how to cure a hangover
is to first understand what the hangover is
A hangover is when you experience some unpleasant physical and mental effects
after the consumption of alcohol
Basically, you're wrecked after a night on the piss!
they can last for a few hours, or a few days
the symptoms include fatigue, headache, nausea, misery
and just general discomfort...it's not fun
So everywhere on the internet says that it's unclear how hangovers are caused...
but it's pretty bloody obvious!
Alcohol is a mild toxin...we're basically drinking poison
and the more poison that we drink, the worse we are gonna feel!
So let me teach you a little bit about how alcohol affects our bodies
and what we can do to minimise those effects
so when we drink, we're consuming alcohol which contains ethanol
and ethanol is the chemical that makes us feel drunk
now ethanol is toxic to the body
oh it's good
so our body needs to break it down, right?
So our liver converts ethanol into acetaldehyde
which is actually even more toxic than ethanol...
But then that gets converted on into acetate...
which turns into carbon dioxide and water, which is harmless
so that's how our body deals with ethanol
But the more alcohol we drink, the more that acetaldehyde builds up
and it's a really toxic chemical that promotes inflammation and cellular damage throughout the body
Also, most alcoholic drinks contain congeners
chemicals similar to ethanol like methanol or acetone
that are introduced during the production processes
and these also contribute to hangovers by promoting that inflammation!
Generally, dark liquors like this sixteen-year Lagavulin scotch whisky
will have higher concentrations of congeners
and so they're going to cause a worse hangover
Meanwhile, lighter liquors like this bottle of tequila
have lower concentrations of congeners
and so they should cause less of a hangover
So inflammation! it's caused by acetaldehyde and it's promoted by congeners
Whoop De Doo! What does it all MEAN Basil?!
Basically, these harsh chemicals are going to produce free radicals
which are going to promote oxidative stress and cause cellular damage throughout the body
causing a serious hangover!
Also, when you drink you get dehydrated
You already knew that, right?
Basically alcohol suppresses the hormone vasopressin...
which normally stops us from peeing, so you urinate... A LOT!
and you lose all of the stored up water in your body
as well as lots of essential vitamins and minerals and salts
All of that gets flushed away when you start drinking
and this chemical imbalance and loss of water is going to trigger a severe headache
and mess up a lot of your bodily functions
So to summarise
Acetaldehyde, Congeners, and Dehydration
You're powers combined, I am CAPTAIN HANGOVER!!!
So just quickly, let's talk about preventing hangovers...
Maybe try NOT drinking?
Ah, who am I kidding, if you're watching this video, you're gonna drink
Good on ya!
Okay so the next two tactics
Eat before you drink!
If you have some food in your belly, that's gonna slow the absorption
of alcohol and lower your peak blood alcohol limit
and the lower that peak limit, the less of a hangover you're going to get
The other tip is to drink water and use hydralyte throughout the night
to maintain salt levels and minimise dehydration while you're drinking
But anyway, onto the good stuff
How do we cure a hangover using science?
Well, when you wake up and you feel terrible...
Like, it's been a big night and you are GONE...
here's what you're gonna do
The best thing you can do to treat a hangover
is to treat the individual symptoms!
A hangover is just a combination of symptoms
and if you can treat each of those symptoms one by one...
you're gonna feel heaps better in no time!
So the first thing you need to treat is dehydration, right!?
You've been drinking all night, you've pissed away all your liquids
your salts, things like that.
You need to get that back, so you need to drink water before you go to bed
Otherwise you're gonna be dehydrated all night long
and your body is gonna be messed up in the morning!
So before you go to bed, drink HEAPS of water...
Just don't drink so much that you're gonna wet the bed..
Because look, it happens to the best of us and it's not fun...
Also you can use something like Hydralyte or Berocca to replenish your salts
and that's gonna help you retain more water
The next thing to treat is pain
You've got a headache, you got aches throughout your body
it's all that inflammation that's going on and, y'know
How do we treat pain?
Painkillers! non-steroidal anti-inflammatories like Aspirin or Ibuprofen
Take some of these and they are gonna treat your headache in no time
Just be aware that your stomach is a bit more vulnerable after a night of drinking
to being damaged by these kinds of drugs so don't go crazy...
But if you've got a bad headache, take those pills!
Next symptom, nausea!
You're not feeling too good, your stomach is gonna produce a lot of acid after drinking alcohol
and that acid is gonna make you feel like you want to vomit!
It's gonna stop you from wanting to eat
Take antacids or Pepto-Bismol, these kinds of drugs
can reduce the acidity levels in your stomach
that have built up from drinking too much alcohol
and then you can eat something, like just something simple
bread or cereal, not a big greasy breakfast it's too hard to digest
You just need something simple to replenish your blood sugar
and get your stomach back on the right track
BOOM! Next
Fatigue! You're tired, you're exhausted!
You probably haven't got a good night's sleep and alcohol messes with your sleep cycle anyway
So how do you normally treat fatigue and tiredness?
Caffeine, right!?
Whatever you normally do on a regular day, do it again!
Get a coffee or a cup of tea, it's gonna save your life!
By consuming what your body is used to
it's going to help calm your nerves and revitalise your brain
and really help your body start to recover!
The last thing you've got to do is
give it time and take some rest
and I know, that's not much of a miracle cure
but that's what you've got to do!
you've taken pain killers for the pain
you've been drinking water to reduce dehydration
you've taken some pills to settle your stomach
you're eating something to return your blood sugar
you've had some caffeine
now you just need to rest
Honestly, you just need to give your body time to return to a normative state
and get back into balance with itself
So chuck on your favourite Netflix series
get as comfortable as a hungover person can get
and just wait for your body to make itself feel better...
unless you've got to go to work...
Then you're F*$%@D
Finally, a word on alternative remedies
now there is no scientific evidence that these are actually effective at treating hangovers in any way
But there hasn't been a lot of scientific testing for things like
y'know, milk thistle or energy drink or eating fast food before you go to bed
there's no evidence that that stuff really helps
and you know those hangover pills that they sell at drugstores now?
They don't work!
They are not effective, there is no evidence that proves that they help with hangovers at all...
But a placebo effect is going to be really important!
So if you think that something is going to help you out with your hangover
No matter what it is, if you're confident that it'll work...
your brain will help you to feel better and actually treat that hangover
So if you take my advice to treat those symptoms individually
and you think that that's gonna make your hangover feel better
I guarantee it will help your hangover!
And if you think that some other crazy remedy is gonna do it
and you are REALLY convinced that it works...
it'll probably work, I'm not gonna lie
Anyway, that's all for today guys
Thanks so much for watching this video about hangovers and hangover cures and science
and drinking and me getting drunk, it was fun to make
if you did like it click the like button down below
because that helps me out
If you've got any hangover cures of your own, special remedies or anything
chuck them in the comment section down below, share them with us, why not!?
Finally, subscribe for more Traveling Science every week
I'm always traveling around the world to crazy places like this
and making videos on rooftops about drinking alcohol
and the science of the world and how it can help you so look
please subscribe because you will, you'll love it
So yeah, cheers for watching and I'll see you guys next time
Cheers!