Turn it up!
Regulate these and diminish the symptoms of a hangover.
Excessive fluid loss due to increased urine production coupled with the ill feelings associated with a hangover such as vomiting, sweating and diarrhea are the leading contributors to the causes of common hangover symptoms including extreme thirst, weakness, dizziness, lightheadedness and dryness of mucous membranes. Alcohol retards kidney function, making them less effective at filtering the blood. This drying effect disrupts the normal function of cells and organs, including the kidneys, leading to frequent bathroom use and an increased fluid and nutrient loss.
Inflammation of the stomach lining as a result of the irritation of the stomach and intestines, produced by alcohol causes the stomach to work more slowly. The delayed emptying of the stomach combined with the fact that alcohol causes fatty liver, pancreatic, gastic acid and intestinal secretions can cause various hangover symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Glucose production is inhibited by alcohol causing blood sugar levels to plummet, depleting the livers glucose reserves. The brain looks to glucose as it’s main source of energy, so if the bodies blood sugar levels are low, symptoms of fatigue, weakness and lethargy result.
Alcohol consumption causes poor sleep quality and disrupts the bodies daily natural biological rhythms such as it’s daily temperature rhythm, the nightly secretion of growth hormones, and the regulation and release of cortisol in the body, .
Alcohol causes Vasodilatation(widening of the artieries and blood vessels), this increaesed blood flow combined with the negative impacts on the bodies ability to regulate the production of key active lipid compounds, monoamine neurotransmitters and hormones, such as prostaglandins, histamine, and serotonin which are essential for vasoconstriction is thought to be the leading causes of an alcohol induced headache.
Excessive drinking is a suppressant of the CNS or central nervous system, this how it reduces the feelings of pain. Once Alcohol has been withdrawn, the CNS may enter an unbalanced state of hyperactivity. This overdrive state is associated with rapid and erratic heartbeat and tremors. Many of the symptoms of a hangover are caused by alcohol withdrawal syndrome.
During the process of alcohol metabolism, the body makes use of Alcohol metabolites, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) to break the alcohol molecules down into acetate so that it can be eliminated from the body. Many people have certain genetic variants of this ALDH, which causes increased toxicity levels in the body, resulting from the acetaldehyde accumulation. it is believed even once the BAC(blood alcohol concentration) level reaches zero, these toxic effects persist well into the hangover stage.
The Happy Hangover
