Bucknell collegiates sometimes get a little carried away on Wednesday nights on St. Catherine’s Street, usually resulting in a heartbeat in our temples, a desert in our mouths and a rock in our stomachs on Thursday morning.
Yes, we’ve all been there at Her Campus Bucknell, which is why we’ve mastered the reasons why we get hungover, how we can prevent them and how we can make them a little more bearable. So, collegiates, slip on your chicest pair of sunglasses, rock that messy ponytail and educate yourselves on the anatomy of a hangover:
Why, why, why?
…You ask yourself as you stumble to the freezer to grab an icepack to nurse your impending migraine. According to doctors and hangover experts, several biological reasons may contribute to the severity of your hangover. Here are the most frequent factors that cause hangovers and a few ways on how to lessen their miserable effects.
The Problem: Dehydration and Vasopressin
The Reason: Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning that the more you drink, the more vasopressin (an antidiuretic hormone) your brain will block out, and therefore, the more often you’ll be running to the bathroom. The loss of this hormone also causes your body to quickly try to replenish its missing water supply. This is why most people get morning dry mouth and headaches from drinking excessively.
The Cure: After a night out, drink a few glasses of water before bed. Not only will you get a better night’s sleep, but you will also reduce your chances of waking up with a pounding headache!
The Problem: Congener Concentration
The Reason: Hangovers vary depending on what type of alcohol you’re consuming. Congeners are byproducts of fermentation found in every type of alcohol. This means that if you drink alcohol with a high concentration of congeners, you’ll feel pretty hungover the next day. The types of alcohol that have the greatest concentration of congeners are red wine, brandy and tequila. Clear liquors and white wine have fewer congeners in them and typically cause less severe hangovers.
The Cure: Mixing your alcoholic drinks (therefore mixing congener levels) can sometimes be a recipe for disaster in the. Stick to one type of alcohol when you go out to minimize the effects of a hangover headache!
The Problem: Nausea
The Reason: Alcohol causes the stomach cells to become irritated because it is directly absorbed through the stomach. After a night of heavy drinking, your nerves may send a desperate message to your brain that the substance in your stomach is hurting your body and that it must be expelled. This is why some people have severe stomachaches or vomit in the morning, which further causes dehydration.
The Cure: Sometimes, it’s better out than in. Vomiting, quite obviously, gets rid of the build up of alcohol in your stomach and reduces the amount of toxic substances in your body. It may be extremely unpleasant and unladylike, but your stomach will thank you in the morning.
The Problem: You didn’t sleep so well last night…if at all!
The Reason: Alcohol is a depressant, and after a night of partying, your body will try and bounce back from this effect. When you drink alcohol, your body produces glutamine, which is a natural stimulant. After you stop drinking, your body still processes this stimulant, which prevents you from having a deep sleep. This is why many people wake up feeling fatigued.
The Cure: Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a cure for your lack of R.E.M. sleep from the night before. The best thing to do is drink some coffee and go to bed early the next night!
So collegiates, don’t forget to eat a good meal, drink several glasses of water and rest up before you plan on going out this weekend. Your liver and the rest of your body will thank you come Sunday morning!
For more information:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/human-biology/hangover5.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/anatomy-hangover/story?id=12509637