The Science Behind Hangovers

Partied
hard all night? Drank till you dropped? Even as your vision dims and
your mind blacks out, you are subconsciously aware of the tremendous
hangover that you are going to wake up to the next morning. What is it
about alcohol that gives you hangovers? What are its biological
mechanisms? Read ahead to find out.

Fair enough - after days of
crushing, processing, fermenting, distilling, brewing and being locked
up to age for months (sometimes years), it shouldn't come as a surprise
that those grapes harbor a significant amount of grudge towards mankind!
Their life-essence lies in wait, saturated with bottled-up (pun
intended) resentment. All this wrath gets a much awaited release as soon
as an unwitting specimen of humanity makes the mistake of tipping the
bottle and taking in more than he can handle! The result? You know it,
don't you! You wouldn't have come here if you hadn't experienced it
sometime! Now, while we all know what leads to those terrible hangovers,
not many of us are aware of the exact biochemical mechanisms that take
place inside our bodies and manifest as the external physiological
symptoms. A lot of people will tell you that hangover is all about
dehydration but that's not all there is to it. Therefore, let's proceed
towards the subsequent paragraphs to take a detailed look at the science
behind hangovers.

How Hangovers Work

A hangover is the
sum of a set of biochemical effects that are triggered inside the body
when alcohol is consumed. All these effects take place in different
physiological areas of the body and, hence, a hangover is not just
restricted to the head. That headache is a manifestation of collective
biological reactions to alcohol. Let's take an area-by-area tour of the
geography of a typical hangover.

Vasopressin Inhibition → Diuretic Effect → Dehydration
An
anti-diuretic hormone, vasopressin is responsible for sending chemical
signals to the kidneys to not send all the water to the bladders for
expulsion and retain some of it for the body to reabsorb. This process
is extremely important for saving the body from dehydration. Vasopressin
plays an important role in regulating the levels of water, glucose and
salts in the bloodstream. Now, when alcohol hits the bloodstream, its
molecules are carried all over the body including the pituitary gland
(where the preprohormone or precursor of vasopressin is produced) and
the hypothalamus (where this preprohormone is synthesized). Alcohol
inhibits the production of the precursor of vasopressin in the pituitary
gland and this leads to a diuretic effect as the kidneys no longer
receive chemical signals for water reabsorption. All the water from
liquid materials that enter the body get carried over to the bladders
wherefrom they are evacuated. This lowers the level of water in the
body, making way for dehydration. Remember the number of trips you took
to the restroom the last time you emptied two bottles of beer? Well, the
reason was nothing but the suppression of vasopressin which caused more
water to fill your bladder than usual. The resultant dehydration is
what causes those nagging headaches, signaling that your body needs to
replenish the excessive loss of fluids. This is the reason why it is
recommended that you drink lots of water before and in-between drinks.

Alcohol Toxins → Inability to Metabolize → Nausea and Vomiting
During
the fermentation process of wines and liquors, certain chemical
compounds, known as congeners, are produced which are believed to impart
distinct aromas to distilled liquors and signature tastes to
non-distilled alcoholic beverages. Common alcoholic congeners are
aldehydes, acetaldehyde, acetone, fusel alcohols, ester alcohols, etc.
Certain toxic congeners, such as acetaldehyde, are produced in the body
itself when the liver metabolizes alcohol with the help of an enzyme,
alcohol dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde is further broken down by two other
enzymes, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and glutathione, to form harmless
compounds. However, during binge-drinking sessions, the rate at which
alcohol and toxic congeners are broken down into nontoxic compounds is
slower than the rate of alcohol intake. Glutathione, especially, takes a
lot of time to get replenished and in case of heavy drinking, a lot of
alcohol and acetaldehyde get to stay in the body in their toxic forms
for a long time before getting broken down. Owing to the presence of
such toxins in the body and the liver's inability to metabolize them at a
decent pace, it is common for hangover symptoms such as nausea and
vomiting to accompany headache. This is nothing but the body's attempt
to expel the excess alcohol and toxins.

Glutamine Rebound → Excessive Brain Stimulation → Fatigue
Despite
acting as a stimulant in the initial stages of consumption, alcohol is a
central nervous system depressant. It acts as a depressant by blocking
the production of glutamine. Glutamine is an amino acid that goes on to
act as a natural stimulatory neurotransmitter. Therefore, as long as one
keeps consuming alcohol, the glutamine levels stay lower than normal,
leading to the typical depressive symptoms of dizziness, loss of balance
and muscle coordination, drowsiness, slurred speech, decreased mental
alertness, blurred vision, etc. Now, as soon as one stops drinking and
the process of alcohol metabolism takes over, the body attempts to cover
the glutamine deficit by producing it in huge quantities. This causes
the mind to go into a state of wakeful-sleepiness - while the body aches
to give in to sleep, the mind receives a rush of stimulants and finds
it difficult to shut down. Therefore, while senses are not as sharp as
they should be when sober, the mind does not surrender to slumber
either. This is the reason why binge-drinkers find it difficult to get
deep, undisturbed sleep despite feeling drowsy. Now, this lack of deep
sleep results in the inexplicable fatigue that is felt the next morning.
While your body felt tired and slack, your mind just couldn't go off
awake-mode. That's how you end up feeling zombified the morning after a
night of partying hard!

The sum of effects of vasopressin
inhibition + toxic congeners + glutamine rebound is what causes
hangovers. Unpleasant aftereffects of drinking can be avoided by
following various remedial measures such as drinking lots of water
before and in-between drinks, not drinking on an empty stomach, eating
lots of fresh juices in the morning, eating a nutritious breakfast, etc.
This way, you would not have to give up on indulging in your favorite
poison. Some basic knowledge and a little common sense can go a long way
in making that night out with friends a thoroughly enjoyable experience