Make it a half (Image: Polfoto/PYMCA)
If you like to end the night with tequila slammers, a pounding head could be the least of your worries. In the long run, drinking to excess risks harming your liver and other organs, various cancers and raised blood pressure.
Moderate drinking was thought to offer some protection against cardiovascular disease. One study found that by a third, possibly because alcohol helps thin the blood. That study was in men, and more recent research suggests that from light drinking are women over 65.
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Even so, there are things you can do to maximise the pleasure and nix the pain. If you wake up with the start of a hangover, trust your instinct and keep the curtains tightly closed. Anal铆a Karadayian and her colleagues at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina gave mice alcohol and then monitored their hangovers. Under normal day/night conditions, the animals took about 20 hours to get back to their normal levels of activity and coordination. But mice left to recover in total darkness . 鈥淗angovers can break the operation of聽our internal clock, so darkness could encourage recovery,鈥� says Karadayian.
If you find yourself dragged into a drinking game and want to keep your head while all about are losing theirs, is there anything you can do to ward off intoxication? There鈥檚 nothing proven to help yet, but there鈥檚 promise in a traditional Chinese remedy: an extract from the oriental raisin tree Hovenia dulcis. Known as dihydromyricetin (DHM), it binds to receptors for the neurotransmitter GABA, which in turn blocks ethanol鈥檚 intoxicating effect, says of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Spry and dry
Popping one DHM pill while drinking won鈥檛 reduce your blood alcohol level, but should in theory reduce intoxication. It works in rats, says Liang, and people who take DHM while still under the influence of alcohol report improvements in concentration and clarity of thought.
A more natural way to soothe the liver is to give it a little holiday. 鈥淒ry January鈥� is often touted as a way to get a health boost after seasonal indulgences, but there鈥檚 little research to back this up. So in 2013, 14 麻豆传媒 staff tried it out. Ten gave up drink for five weeks and saw an average 15 per cent reduction in liver fat, whereas the other four saw no change; too much fat in the liver can lead to liver disease. The abstainers鈥� blood glucose and cholesterol levels also improved markedly. It seems a month on the wagon can offer fast, dramatic health effects.
If you have more money than brain cells left following a big night out, you could consider what is regularly touted as 鈥渢he latest celebrity trend鈥�: . Just like tequila, you might want to take that one with a pinch of salt.
Read more: 鈥�Guilty pleasures: Which bad habits can you get away with?鈥�
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淕etting away with booze鈥�
