According to
The Secrets Of Natural Health by
Shyam Singha:
Don’t take his word for it though, these ideas seem pretty radical; conventionally what’s needed is liquid to alleviate
cerebral dehydration. If you can’t bear to drink something non-alcoholic, compromise with pints of
shandy (2% acohol by volume).
However you might mind, some theories are taken more seriously than others; it is less than unfailingly understood that substances called
congener, which largely cause hangovers, are notably present in
red wine and
whisky. The body metabolises them into
formaldehyde and
formic acid, which are thought to bring on the typical
hangover symptoms of headache and nausea. A small quantity of
ethanol can block this
metabolic process. Some experts claim that a glass of
wine, and some not so expert claim that a
Bloody Mary, may both steer off a hangover.
More so, as we enter this - yes I’m going with the sickening cliché –
Brave New World, ugh, scientists are making wonderful new discoveries regarding what’s actually in a drop of
wine and to our
friendly neighborhood drinking buddies, what is being found is some very interesting
information.
“
Grape and grain don’t mix”, was I think how it used to go; apparently you couldn’t drink wine and then whisky. You could drink sherry, wine and brandy (
grape-based drinks), or
beer,
vodka and
whisky (
grain-based); but you sure as hell couldn't mix them. Well that makes a
barrel-load of sense, especially since the old
housewife telling the tale is your
sweet old grandma walking the fine line of senility, but back in the day people used to think some pretty aloof stuff. Take that whole fried-
witch business for instance.
Then again though, there might be something to that whole theory, who knows? What
neurologists are finding is that different ingredients in different drinks actually affect different parts of the
brain. Alcohol doesn’t target a single
receptor to cause the
Alien-infested sensation in the pit of your stomach post-party hours, but several (left-over) brain receptors. Furthermore, chances are each individual will react differently to
vast quantities of alcohol. I’m sure every one of you know people who get drunk on a certain drink far more easily than another, I myself can get blind drunk on scotch and be as bright as a
pink clouds with butterflies the following day, but 4 beers will make me feel like an
ostrich. Some people really do have a high tolerance for
vodka or
gin, say, but not
brandy. But until
doctors can sit us down and tell us, very matter of fact-like what we can and cannot drink to avoid hangovers I’m gonna have the time of my life using the proverbial
trial and error system.