https://me.me/i/me-can-handle-my-liquor-l-aint-no-lightweight-me-3504604
Going back to school means getting back into the grind of working hard and preparing for the oncoming stress. It also means chatting with your best friends over a round of beer or even taking a few shots of vodka at a party. The party scene is real in university and often times, there’s one going on every night so moderation is key, especially if you’re a lightweight. To prevent anyone’s expensive furniture being destroyed and spending the rest of the night hugging a toilet (I’ve been there), here are a few tips for my fellow lightweights out there who plan on getting hammered this school year.
- Drinking water between drinks
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This prevents dehydration and waking up with a nasty hangover. There’s nothing worse than a pounding headache while your mouth’s as dry as the Sahara desert. If you follow the “alcoholic drink, water, alcoholic drink, water” order, you’re pretty much set for a hangover-free morning even if it’s just little sips of water in between. Most people seem to forget that alcohol takes around 30 minutes to enter your bloodstream so some will end up drinking more to “feel” the buzz faster. Drinking water in between helps combat this and gives you enough time to let the alcohol take effect.
- Eating greasy food before and/or during
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As gross as it may sound, the fat in the food will actually coat the lining of your stomach, which helps absorb the alcohol you consume. In turn, you won’t get sloppy drunk to the point of no return nor will you wake up with your head throbbing in pain. Forget the diet, just stuff your face! My personal favourite is pizza or some good ol’ Mac and Cheese.
- Stick to 1 type of alcohol
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It’s much easier to overdo it when you’re mixing spirits and you don’t even realize you’re drinking more. It feels strange when you take your 5th vodka shot but you don’t notice it as much when you’re having 5 cocktails with different things mixed in. This is referred to as sensory-specific satiety.
- “Beer before liquor, never been sicker. Liquor before beer, have no fear.”
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That’s a popular expression that holds mostly true. If you drink a lot of beer and then switch to spirits, the buzz from the beer hasn’t kicked in yet and all of a sudden, you’re overdoing it on the spirits. This is because beer gets absorbed slower but will make you feel drunk eventually. If you drink spirits before beer, you are much more likely to realize how drunk you are and will go easy on the beer. It’s a good rule to go from a hard drink to something light.
- Light ale gives a better buzz than dark ale
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It’s a pretty good rule of thumb for lightweight drinkers to stick to beer as opposed to spirits since it has a lower alcohol percentage so this is a good tip to keep in mind.
- Slow down!!!
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Don’t drink as fast as you can, you’ll hit the ground that much faster and end up with lots of regrets. 1-2 drinks per hour is usually key to not passing out.
- Know your limit
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Lastly, it’s important to drink smart and know your limit. Just because your friend can handle 8 Jagermeister shots in 2 hours, it doesn’t mean you can too. Be safe, have fun, and just enjoy the party!
Article By Ivy Hu