Advertisement

Why sign up for Dry July?

How booze affects your body. Photo by Getty.

Last night, things got crazy. Today you're feeling well, crap. This is how booze messes with you.

HEAD
Your biggest pain point is going to be dehydration. Excess alcohol upsets the production of vasopressin, a hormone that controls fluid balance – which is why you have to pee so often when drinking and, come the morning, you wake with a dry mouth and a please-just-let-me-die-now headache.

Booze also messes with your immune system’s cytokines, chemical messengers that can trigger acute inflammation in your noggin and elsewhere.

If you were knocking back bourbon instead of, say, vodka, your head may be pounding a bit harder because, in general, darker hard liquors, most beers and dark wines contain more congeners, chemicals that may exacerbate hangovers.

MORE: Five ways to boost your fitness motivation

LIVER
Your hardworking liver can only process one drink per hour. If you gave it a beating last night (g’day, tequila slammers), make sure you don’t traumatise it further by taking liver-stressing painkillers like paracetamol.

MORE: Nine weight-loss tips for crazy-busy people

STOMACH
No matter how smooth they feel going down, all alcoholic drinks are rough on your insides. This is why, if you hit happy hour hard, the thought of food, or actually eating, might make you feel queasy. In some cases, that nausea may be a sign of withdrawal.

Like most drugs, alcohol – when taken too often in copious amounts – triggers give-me-more symptoms once it’s out of your bloodstream. Other symptoms include shakes, sweating and anxiety. Not cool.

MORE: 16 easy ways to live longer

ENERGY
Your exhaustion isn’t just from too little shut-eye. Alcohol disturbs the brain’s normal sleep cycles, so whatever doona-time you had probably wasn’t restorative. Given your brain pain, not to mention sluggishness and nausea, it’s a good idea to put off making big decisions – like whether to cut yourself a new fringe – until you feel better… which should be anywhere from three to 24 hours.

Sadly, no hyped hangover prevention or cure has ever been scientifically proven to work. Your only real recourse is to wait it out – dim the lights and hydrate with H2O. Unless, of course, you are in the 20 per cent of people who may be altogether resistant to hangovers. What lucky bastards.

MORE: Nine scary ways alcohol affects your body