What food to eat while drinking alcohol?

[SangerRainsford]

Alcohol is the only nutrient (if it can even really be called that ) that gets absorbed in your stomach.

it's a nute, a devil-nute, but a nute (ethanol=7k/g, smack-dab between carbs/protein at 4 and fat at 9k/g)

Due to this, if you eat something like bread before/during drinking, the bread will absorb the alcohol and take it out of your stomach into your intestines where it cannot be absorbed. Not totally sure what happens to it then, but yeah, I don't think there are "best foods to prevent handovers" or anything.

thnx, that helps a lot. i have a mean f'in appetite when drinking, i probably puke from gorging on nasty foods 5X more often than alcohol itself, this kinda explains why!!

Though I know I rarely got hungover when I was eating a lot of salads and other raw vegetables during the day prior to drinking.

causation or correlation? i tend to drink far more when life's been generally unhealthy, and wayyyyy less when i'm being healhty :/

Water really is the key though. When I'm drinking alcohol for more than 5 hours I usually end up drinking 2 litres of water during my drinking session, and then I have a big bottle of water next to my bed and take big gulps during the night whenever I wake up. It helps immensely.

this.
water before drinking, water while drinking, water beside the bed, and water in the am
dehydration is, by far, the biggest hangover exacerbater(word? ;P) IME

Okay, sorry. Thanks for the info. I have a short fuse sometimes.

I guess the one thing that article implied which you guys haven't said was that certain foods (ie. those high in vitamins B and C) are good things to eat in order to counter-act the effects of the alcohol... I was just asking if that's true or if it doesn't really matter what you eat - as a number of guys have said throughout this thread...

i'm sure you can make a case that antioxidants offer some protection against the mechanisms that cause a hangover, but i'll be dumbfounded if a vitamin* can actually cause any subjective difference
(*of course, that's presuming you weren't deficient prior to taking it)

I do the water thing already, as much as I can. On the food, though:

... I've heard that bread isn't good with beer because you get too much carbs - is that wrong?

Like, I'm up to my sixteenth beer, which is way more daily carbs than you should consume right? So if I eat bread on top of that, then wouldn't that be too much? or am I completely off base with that.. ?

(I didn't realize there were different kinds of carbs.)

to answer any of that, we'd need to know what *your* diet/needs were, there's no hard/fast rules here.
((carbs come in two general categories, complex and simple. Biggest differences are GI(glycemic index, or how quickly it raises your blood sugar), GL(glycemic load, or how much + how long your blood-sugar is raised), and fiber content (note there's soluble+insoluble fibers). different sources have varied pro's/con's, but that's carbs in a nutshell ;P

is that why really drunk people are fed bread?

and carbon/activated charcoal
/the moar u no

 

[Wolfmans_BrothEr]

Hangovers are caused by dehydration. Drink lots of water before sleep and you will have no hangover. The drinker you are the more water u need

Drinking on an empty stomach will get you drunker than drinking on a full one..if that helps at all

 

[SangerRainsford]

dehydration is a major factor, but there's also some toxic by-product from alcohol's metabolism (and other nasties like teh tannins in red wine)

 

[Jabberwocky]

if its merely the hangover you want to avoid, try cinnamon and honey mixed together.

There are concerns that the coumarin levels in cassia cinnamon(Cinnamon aromaticum) could be a liver problem for some people. I haven't been able to find solid info on who is at risk or how much of a risk this is. The majority of us buying cinnamon are buying cassia rather than real cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylancium or Cinnamomum verum ).

It blocks the absorption or competes for absorption--One of those. Thiamin (B...3?) is a biggie for alcoholics to have issues with.

Alcohol depletes pretty much all the B's. Thiamine is a big deal though because if you start a glucose IV on someone thiamine deficient you can cause a lot of damage, thus banana bag IVs (thiamine is bright yellow-green) for alcoholics in hospitals which provides thiamine along with electrolytes, glucose, and hydration. The banana bag requirement keeps thiamine in health professionals mental forefront but really all the B's are deficient.

A kaiser-permemente life style study indicated regular coffee drinking among regular drinkers decreased cirrhosis significantly. 1 cup a day a 25% reduction in cirrhosis, 2 cups 50%, 3 cups 75%.

Magnesium is definitely often deficient in alcoholics or alchophilics if alcoholic is to charged of a word. Energy drinks except for their lack of thiamine and magnesium often seem formulated to be good stuff for drinkers. Taurine has liver benefits by many animal studies including reversing alcoholic fatty liver.

To spite my mentioning many things with possible protective effects against some alcohol effects I'm not suggesting anything renders one impervious to unhealthy effects from continual heavy drinking.

 

[Roger&Me]

dehydration is a major factor, but there's also some toxic by-product from alcohol's metabolism (and other nasties like teh tannins in red wine)

Yeah, there is no single cause for the hangover -- its a syndrome that presents with a wide range of causes. These causative factors include dehydration, the presence of toxic congeners and acetaldehyde, and also (and this is a major factor, possibly the biggest) when you drink alcohol you induce temporary tolerance and subsequent withdrawal (albeit very, very mild compared to full-blown alcohol withdrawal). This last point is the only reason that "hair of the dog" even works at all, because a significant portion of the alcohol hangover syndrome is due to GABA rebound and subsequent glutaminergic excitation (essentially a "mini withdrawal").

 

[ColtDan]

i would recommend fruit and healthy food, along with lots of water.

 

[Giog]

I would recommend eating nothing a few hours before drinking. It would also be wise to intermittently drink water while drinking alcohol to prevent dehydration (alcohol/ethanol after all has an OH group which takes part in dehydration synthesis).

The reason I recommend eating nothing is because I had a chemistry teacher who once explained to us his theory, which to me made some good sense. You basically want your stomach Ph. to be as basic as possible before drinking to prevent some of the metabolites that are actually more harmful to you, from being produced. (don't remember the details, but yeah)

* I haven't necessarily tested his theory, but I have drank while eating, like at lunch/dinner, and had no problems whatsoever but we are talking maybe just a beer and three glasses of wine.

 

[n3ophy7e]

I would recommend eating nothing a few hours before drinking.

Despite the theory that your chemistry teacher put forth, in reality I would NOT recommend drinking on a completely empty stomach. This will more than likely lead to getting way drunker than you intended, and increase your chances of being physically sick from alcohol. Even though for small amounts of alcohol intake, the stomach pH theory might be valid, for larger amounts of alcohol intake this would not be wise.

 

[L2R]

td, i'm saddened to see you still battling that demon.

loose leaf chinese green tea works perfectly for me. drink it after your done drinking, and no matter how much you've had, it'll fix you up. like it never happened.

it'll sober you up too.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I would recommend eating nothing a few hours before drinking.

Additional to the reasons n3ophy7e gave stable blood sugar happens not just from the pancreas releasing insulin but also from the liver releasing glucose. When the liver is busy processing alcohol it isn't always up on releasing glucose. Drunken benders where people are uncharacteristically mean and aggressive, even violent are often related to low blood sugar. If you encounter a belligerent drunk feeding him/her can often shake off the belligerence by my observation. If I owned a bar there would be free pretzels or the like and it wouldn't even be about increasing customer goodwill it would be about decreasing belligerence and violence.

 

[SangerRainsford]

srsly?? i can't say i'd doubt it, but is there anything that backs a link between blood.sug. / belligerence?
/gg check pretzel stocks ;PP

 

[Renz Envy]

Coconut milk / bananas would be my best guess.

 

[Jabberwocky]

srsly?? i can't say i'd doubt it, but is there anything that backs a link between blood.sug. / belligerence?
/gg check pretzel stocks ;PP

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/6747643/drunken-behavior-could-actually-be-diabetics-hypoglycemia

There are a number of other situations, besides diabetes, that can cause hypoglycemia, for example, drinking alcohol on an empty stomach.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2010...nd-aggression-linked-in-studies-96227932.html
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4420&page=16

Some studies have observed that violent offenders, particularly those with a history of alcohol abuse, are characterized by reactive hypoglycemia (Virkkunen, 1986). Although there have been no demonstrations to date that violent individuals are hypoglycemic at the time of the commission of violence, it is possible that low blood glucose levels (hypoglycemia) could be conducive to aggressive behavior. Increased irritability is one symptom of hypoglycemia (Marks, 1981), and this could be the first step in the development of a full-blown aggressive outburst. Anthropologic studies, studies of aggressive personality in "normal" subjects, and experimental studies in animals all support a link between hypoglycemia and aggression (Venables and Raine, 1987). Acute symptoms of hypoglycemia are reported as maximal at 11.00–11.30 a.m. (Marks, 1981), and this time corresponds to peaks in assaults on both staff and other inmates in prison, both of which reach their maximum at 11.00–11.30 a.m. (Davies, 1982).

 

[panic in paradise]

see also: ' fight or flight ' hehe;-\ this is how you tap into your adrenaline supply with little warning or hesitation.

my life revolved around hypoglycemia for a couple of years, i would drop to 65, 55, down to 45 with-out being careful, and a persons behavior or state-of-mind at this time is comparable to some one who hasnt eaten in three or four days...with in 10-20 minutes time ~ Livid -
alcohol will take you there fast with this sort of condition, and as Enki pointed out it is not often diagnosed, which can be a nightmare for many people, and easily avoidable.

yeah, it can an awful experience for anyone near.
all you have to do is eat the right food all day($$$), 5-8x a day.

 

[TheDeceased]

td, i'm saddened to see you still battling that demon.

Don't be sad. It's no longer a demon. Today I had 3 beers in the fridge and an ounce of weed in my cupboard but I remained sober simply because I wanted to. I have learnt self-control, rather than quitting everything. I no longer smoke tobacco. I drink too much sometimes, but who doesn't? Most of the time (4 out of 7 days of the week) I don't drink at all. It's all good.



Thanks for the multitude of responses, people. I now have a much better idea about the effects of alcohol.

One question, though:

(I know a lot of people on HL don't like supplements, but...)

Would eating a multi-vitamin (with lots of water) be a good idea after drinking a lot?

 

[Jabberwocky]

As you said there will be a lot of different ideas on this. I don't like multi-vitamins with a days supply of iron in them because a lot of people don't need more iron and it could be a problem. Most likely a multi wouldn't hurt though. Taking the multi with food, even a little bit is going to make more readily absorbed and bioavailable.

A can of sardines might be good for getting a whole bunch of minerals and essential fatty acids.

 

[n3ophy7e]

Would eating a multi-vitamin (with lots of water) be a good idea after drinking a lot?

My personal opinion is that if you have the money to spend on multi-vitamins, it can't hurt taking one each day

 

[TheDeceased]

I've heard they can be bad?

 

[SangerRainsford]

they can be bad (enki mentioned iron already- there's also concern w/ almost anything that's not water-soluble like C's or B's). BUT they're still a good idea imo, i take .5-1 daily, and i actually alternate between different types lol (fear of taking too much of a particular kind, i have 2 or 3 types of multi's mixed together - and i always keep 1 iron-containing vit in the mix ;P )

 

[L2R]

Don't be sad. It's no longer a demon. Today I had 3 beers in the fridge and an ounce of weed in my cupboard but I remained sober simply because I wanted to. I have learnt self-control, rather than quitting everything. I no longer smoke tobacco. I drink too much sometimes, but who doesn't? Most of the time (4 out of 7 days of the week) I don't drink at all. It's all good.

fantastic! well done, man.