Written By: Nirmalya Dutta | Updated : September 14, 2013 12:14 PM IST
Getting older does have lots of downsides. Your metabolism slows down, you're likelier to lose muscle mass quickly and your sex drive goes down. You're also likelier to suffer from heart disease, cancer not to mention mental health conditions like dementia. But a recent research has a found a silver lining of ageing that might just gladden the hearts of most people you're less likely to suffer from hangovers!
Apparently with the wisdom of old age comes the ability to keep hangovers in check. A new study from Denmark which tracked the drinking habits of 52,000 people between the ages of 18 and 94 found that older people are less prone to hangovers after binge drinking. 'We found that the tendency to have hangovers decreased by increasing age,' Janne S Tolstrup, a research program director at the University of Southern Denmark said in a press release. 'The first explanation that pops up is that this finding would be due to differences in drinking pattern in different age groups. However, trying to account for such differences as much as we could, did not even out the differences in hangover tendency,' she said. 'In other words, while it is true that older individuals on average binge-drink less often than younger individuals, we did not find in our data that results were due to differences in drinking patterns.'
The study found that tendency to have a hangover after binge drinking was 11 times likelier among men between 18 and 29 compared to those who were 60 and above. For women the chances were 8 times higher.
Richard Stephens, a senior lecturer in psychology at Keele University and a co-author of the study, pointed out that researchers didn't assess intensity of binge drinking -- just frequency.'Given what we know about drinking patterns across the lifespan, it's likely that our younger drinkers' binges would have been of greater intensity, involving more alcohol, than those of our older drinkers, even though the average weekly consumption was about the same,' Stephens said in a press release. 'This is one possible explanation of the reduced hangover incidence with increasing age that we found.'
Tolstrup added that findings were significant for younger drinkers. 'From a medical point of view, binge drinking is never a good idea,' Tolstrup cautioned. 'A low to moderate alcohol intake is shown to have beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system, especially among mid-aged individuals. Some research indicates that this beneficial effect is reversed if the alcohol is taken in binges.'
Hangovers are likelier for younger, less experienced drinkers. Stephens said, 'Younger drinkers in their late teens and 20s are several times more likely to get a hangover than older, more experienced drinkers,' Stephens said. 'In light of links between hangover and risk of alcoholism, younger drinkers should beware.'
What causes hangovers?
The booze that you drink has to be converted by the liver from ethanol to acetic acid to acetate so we can release it in urine. This is done by the liver, which means it's diverted from its primary functions like providing glucose. The effects of hangovers like nausea, vomiting, headaches and fatigue is due to this the lack of glucose or hypoglycaemia. Glucose is also very important for our brain functions and this explains why we are lethargic and have slower cognitive function during hangovers.
Here are some things you can do before, during and after drinking to keep hangovers away.
Before drinking
It's a very bad habit to drink on an empty stomach. Always eat something, anything. This is because the food tends to line your stomach and absorbs the booze. Some people recommend multi-vitamins because drinking saps your body of natural vitamins. In fact, a company even launched a 'multivitamin hangover prevention patch' which claimed to prevent hangovers before they started.
While drinking
The first thing you should keep in mind is that alcohol dehydrates you and that means you should drink copious amounts of water with your booze. Another tip you should keep in mind is how you drink. Don't gulp down your booze and don't get sucked into countless bottoms-ups. Never mix drinks and keep having some light snacks to soak up the booze. Have some class and nurse your drink. Also keep in mind the amount you consume, under no circumstances should you drink more than 4 units* (3 units for women). Remember that you're drinking to celebrate, not to get wasted or stone drunk. We Indians despite not being habitual drinkers have the tendency to binge-drink.
*Alcohol-unit comparison chart
Alcohol | Quantity | Unit |
Beer | 330 ml | 1 |
Spirits (Whisky, Vodka, Tequila) | 30 ml | 1 |
Red wine/ White wine | 175ml | 2 |
After drinking
The first thing you should do is drink a huge glass of water and eat something preferably starchy and fatty which seems to help soak up the booze. It's very important to do these things before dozing off.
The next day
There's that possibility that you didn't follow the aforementioned instructions and will feel like something the cat dragged in the next morning. The only way to get over a hangover is to re-hydrate your body. The most popular remedy by far is fluids like water, they're necessary to rehydrate you. You could also try some other liquids like juice, sports drinks or lime juice which along with water will help replenish some of the lost nutrients.
For some people, greasy food items like burgers and pizzas work. Others swear by the good old scrambled eggs. Closer home roadside treats like samosa and chutney or vada pav have proven to be effective.
