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It haunted us all in our first week and still lingers the day after any eventful night out, but while agreeing it’s so common an occurrence – especially in student life, can any of us really explain what a hangover is all about?
Most of us will know the symptoms: headaches, fatigue and dehydration, which only 25% of those who drink alcohol manage to avoid. There are certain variables that can increase the chances of getting a hangover, such as smoking while drinking and lack of sleep, but it mainly depends on how many drinks you manage to polish off during the night.
When alcohol is consumed it gets into the bloodstream through the pituitary gland (a hormone-producing gland that sits beneath the brain) and blocks the creation of the hormone vasopressin (the bit which controls the re-absorption of stuff back into the kidney). Preventing the production of this chemical means that water is sent directly to the bladder from the kidneys instead of reabsorbing it. Which explains why the toilet is the second most visited place after the bar on a night out.
The next morning the body sends out a desperate message to replenish the lost water, usually made loud and clear in the form of a dry mouth and a headache. The body’s organs are sucking water away from the brain causing it to decrease in size and pull on the membranes (thin layers of tissue) connecting the brain to the skull, resulting in pain. Sounds gruesome!
As well as this, alcohol punishes us even more by breaking glycogen (a store of energy in the liver), turning it into glucose, and sending it out of our body in urine. In other words the body gets rid of our store of energy that means we suffer from lack of coordination and fatigue the next day.
Everyone has their own concoctions when it comes to remedies for a hangover, but how many really work?
Coffee is a definite favorite of students everywhere and the high amount of caffeine helps to fend off fatigue. Caffeine is also a vasoconstrictor, which basically means it reduces the size of blood vessels, which have swollen due to the alcohol. This is the reason behind the headaches. However, do not let this fool you, once the caffeine wears off you can end up even more tired than before. As well as this, caffeine (like alcohol), is a diuretic which means it can leave a drinker even more dehydrated than before.
Therefore I’m sorry to say that drinking coffee won’t help when trying to cure a hangover. I’m afraid strong evidence also shows that eating burnt toast topped with fatty foods for brunch will not help in any way either, no matter how many times student’s try it.
However, stay positive – because there are remedies that really do work! Fortunately with fresh orange juice there is no catch. It contains fruit sugar, which helps to increase the body’s energy, and also increases the rate at which the body can get all those toxins out. On top of that, the high concentrations of vitamins and nutrients in it replace those lost due to the alcohol the night before. As well as a hearty glass of orange juice, bananas, and of course water, have also been shown to cure hangovers.
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