Drinking Before, During, and After: Solving the Problem of Drunkenness During the New Year
As the year comes to an end, everyone has more social engagements. It's common for men to gather for business talks over drinks at the dinner table. Sometimes, when the mood is high, it's easy to overindulge. In fact, drunkenness is very harmful to your health. Here are some methods to sober up, hoping to help those who love to drink or have to drink for work.
Alcohol is generally absorbed into the circulatory system by the blood from the stomach. When the liver's ability to process alcohol is slower than the rate of alcohol intake, blood alcohol concentration increases, leading to intoxication. On the other hand, the liver is also damaged.
Pre-Drinking Methods: The best way to sober up is to prevent it beforehand. Specific methods are as follows:
A. Take a sufficient dose of Vitamin C and B complex within half an hour before drinking. Vitamins B and C aid in the digestion and breakdown of alcohol. You can try an experiment: add an appropriate amount of Vitamin C or B complex to a glass of beer and compare it to beer without them. You will find that the alcohol concentration is significantly lower. (Taking 6-10 tablets of Vitamin C orally before drinking can prevent alcohol poisoning. A complex of Vitamin B is also effective; take 10 tablets beforehand.)
B. Take an appropriate amount of milk or yogurt (or other high-quality protein foods) half an hour before drinking. Milk or yogurt forms a protective layer on the stomach wall, reducing the amount of alcohol that enters the blood and reaches the liver.
C. Take high-concentration dietary fiber tablets half an hour before drinking (drink plenty of plain water afterward). The fiber expands rapidly when it absorbs water, releasing a large number of cations that can wrap up the alcohol and expel it directly from the body without entering the digestive system, thereby reducing the harm to the liver and body.
D. Eat a few oranges.
Methods While Drinking:
1. Eating appropriate amounts of meat and fat can help regulate some bodily functions. The beleaguered stomach may be coated with a thin protective layer of fat, preventing alcohol from penetrating the stomach wall.
2. When dishes like eggs or century eggs are served, eat them right away.
3. It is also advisable to eat more bean curd dishes as accompaniments. Because cysteine in bean curd is a major amino acid that can detoxify acetaldehyde, and it can be quickly expelled after consumption. Alternatively, drinking a glass of soy milk to line your stomach is also a good idea.
4. If fruit is served, it's a great thing. Just eat it, regardless of whether it looks elegant or not.
5. A good way to handle having too much to drink is to go to the restroom and induce vomiting. If you can't vomit, stick your fingers down your throat to make yourself gag. You have to vomit it out. After vomiting, wash your face with cold water, and you'll be fine. This method can almost keep the enemy at bay each time, and then you can start drinking again.
6. Order dishes like fish with onions and vinegar, or fish with sour milk and sour cream as accompaniments—the more, the better.
7. Citrus fruits and their juice can also be used as hangover remedies.
Post-Drinking Methods:
After getting drunk, how to relieve uncomfortable symptoms like headache, dizziness, nausea, and fever? The following methods may be effective.
Honey Water -> Post-Drinking Headache
Drinking some honey water can effectively alleviate post-drinking headaches. Researchers at the National Headache Foundation point out that this is because honey contains a special fructose that can promote the breakdown and absorption of alcohol, thus reducing headache symptoms, especially those caused by red wine. Additionally, honey has a sedative effect that can help you fall asleep quickly and wake up without a headache the next day.
Tomato Juice -> Post-Drinking Dizziness
Tomato juice is also rich in a special fructose and is an effective drink that helps promote the breakdown and absorption of alcohol. Drinking more than 300ml at a time can gradually make the feeling of dizziness disappear after drinking. Experiments have confirmed that drinking tomato juice is more effective for sobering up than eating raw tomatoes. Adding a small amount of salt before drinking can also help stabilize your mood.
Fresh Grapes -> Post-Drinking Nausea
Fresh grapes contain rich tartaric acid, which can interact with ethanol in alcohol to form esters, reducing the concentration of ethanol in the body and achieving a sobering effect. At the same time, its sour taste can effectively relieve post-drinking nausea and vomiting. Eating grapes before drinking can also effectively prevent drunkenness.
Watermelon Juice -> Post-Drinking Body Heat
Watermelon juice is a natural "Baihu Decoction" (a classic Chinese herbal formula). On one hand, it can accelerate the excretion of alcohol in urine, preventing the body from absorbing it and causing body heat. On the other hand, watermelon juice itself has the effect of clearing heat and reducing fire, helping to lower the body's temperature. Adding a small amount of salt when drinking can also help stabilize your mood.
Pomelo -> Post-Drinking Bad Breath
Li Shizhen recorded in his "Compendium of Materia Medica" long ago that pomelo can sober you up. Experiments have found that eating diced pomelo flesh dipped in sugar is remarkably effective in eliminating the alcoholic and bad breath from the mouth after drinking.
Celery Juice -> Post-Drinking Gastrointestinal Discomfort and Facial Flushing
When experiencing gastrointestinal discomfort after drinking, drinking some celery juice can significantly relieve it. This is because celery is rich in B vitamins, which are needed to break down alcohol. If you have a weak gastrointestinal function, it's best to drink celery juice beforehand as a preventative measure. Additionally, drinking celery juice can also effectively eliminate the symptom of facial flushing after drinking.
Yogurt -> Post-Drinking Irritability
Mongolians are great drinkers, and yogurt is their secret hangover remedy. Once they have had too much to drink, they drink yogurt. Yogurt can protect the gastric mucosa and slow down the absorption of alcohol. Because yogurt is rich in calcium, it is especially effective in relieving post-drinking irritability.
Banana -> Post-Drinking Palpitations and Chest Tightness
When feeling palpitations and chest tightness after drinking, immediately eat 1-3 bananas. This can increase blood sugar concentration, reducing the concentration of alcohol in the blood to achieve a sobering effect, while also alleviating palpitations and relieving chest tightness.
Olive -> Post-Drinking Loss of Appetite
Olive has been a "good medicine" for sobering up, clearing stomach heat, and stimulating appetite since ancient times. It can effectively improve the symptom of loss of appetite after drinking. It can be eaten directly or stewed with rock sugar.
Other Methods:
1. Decoct 50g of vinegar, 25g of brown sugar, and 3 slices of ginger in water and drink the concoction.
2. Sobering up with fresh oranges. Take 3-5 fresh oranges or tangerines, peel them, and eat them directly, or squeeze them for juice. If fresh oranges are not available, tomato juice will also do.
3. Sobering up with snow pears. Take 2-3 snow pears, wash them, slice them, and mash them into a pulp. Use a cloth to squeeze out the juice and drink it.
4. Rice water sobering method: A drunk person can drink concentrated rice water. Rice water contains polysaccharides and B vitamins, which have a detoxifying and sobering effect. Adding sugar to the water makes it more effective.
5. Salt sobering method: If you have drunk too much and feel discomfort in your chest and abdomen, you can add a small amount of salt to plain water and drink it.
6. Sugar water sobering method: Take an appropriate amount of white sugar, dissolve it in hot water, and drink it. It has the effect of sobering up and refreshing the mind.
7. Mung bean sobering method: Take 50g of mung beans, 10g of licorice, and add an appropriate amount of brown sugar to decoct and drink. It can sober you up. Using only mung beans boiled in water also has a certain effect.
Regarding the post-drinking methods, although the ones mentioned above seem very effective, they are folk remedies and are not recommended. Instead, the following is recommended: 1. 1-2 tablets of Naloxone Hydrochloride; 2. Oral glucose powder mixed with plenty of water; 3. 6 tablets each of Vitamin C and Vitamin B6. Use all three simultaneously for a synergistic effect.
Of course, for severe alcohol poisoning, near-coma, and if the time is less than 1 hour, you should immediately: 1. Induce vomiting (do not use apomorphine, as it may exacerbate the inhibitory effect of ethanol) and perform gastric lavage (using 0.5% activated charcoal or 1% sodium bicarbonate). If more than an hour has passed, most of the alcohol has already been absorbed into the blood, so gastric lavage is not very effective. Then, rush to the hospital for treatment. 2. For severe poisoning, to accelerate the elimination of ethanol from the body, hemodialysis can be performed. 3. For excited and manic patients, a small dose of diazepam (Valium) can be injected intramuscularly, but avoid using morphine and barbiturates, which can depress respiration. 4. For patients in a coma with respiratory depression, central stimulants can be used. Inject 0.4-0.8mg of naloxone intramuscularly or intravenously, which can improve respiration and promote the patient's awakening. It can be repeated every 2-3 hours if necessary. 5. For patients with cerebral edema, dehydration and intracranial pressure reduction treatment should be given, using 20% mannitol, fructose glycerinate, etc. 6. Intravenous injection of hypertonic glucose and insulin, as well as Vitamin B6, can accelerate the oxidation of ethanol in the body and promote the patient's awakening. 7. The traditional Chinese medicine injection, Xingnaojing, can be used as a routine medication for comatose patients, with the effect of resuscitating the brain and opening the orifices.
What to Avoid After Drinking: Tea
Li Shizhen recorded in his "Compendium of Materia Medica": Drinking tea after drinking harms the kidneys, causing a heavy feeling in the waist and legs, cold pain in the bladder, and also phlegm retention and edema. Modern medical research also points out that tea stimulates gastric acid secretion, making alcohol more likely to damage the gastric mucosa. At the same time, the theophylline in tea, like alcohol, can cause the heart to beat faster, further increasing the burden on the heart.