Scientists Invent Hangover-Free Beer

Millions of people like to have a beer with their friends, or maybe two, or maybe three or four. Sharing a beer, for better or worse, builds social connections, helps people blow off steam after a hard day at work, and even provides calories for the next day's work or play.

The problem with having more than one beer or maybe two, aside from the foolish things you can do when you get drunk, is how you feel the next day. You'll probably feel thirsty. (Just as a hint, drinking another beer isn't a good idea at this point.) You'll probably feel groggy. You may have a headache. Sight and sound can be unpleasant, your heart rate will speed up, you can have headaches or muscle aches, and your mental faculties will be, well, disturbed. People who are hung over usually over-react to emotional stimuli, have difficulty concentrating, and memories, particularly of the last night's drinking, only return slowly.

Alcohol poisoning, by the way, is a medical emergency. Someone who has blue or purple skin, who is breathing at a rate of 8 breaths a minute or less, who is vomiting violently or has seizures, needs to go to an emergency room immediately. A hangover doesn't require medical attention, but alcohol poisoning, which can be fatal, always does.

Some people get a hangover after taking just one drink, while other people can drink heavily and feel fine the next morning. There are a variety of ways in which alcohol disturbs metabolism and causes unpleasant symptoms.The alcohol in beer forces the body to produce more urine. The body becomes dehydrated, with resulting dizziness, grogginess, and thirst. Dehydration also intensifies body odor and bad breath.

• Alcohol activates the immune system. The immune system produces inflammation as if it were attacking a germ, but the miguided immune attack only affects the brain. It's the overactive immune system that causes loss of appetite, fuzzy thinking, and memory lapses.
• Alcohol decreases the speed at which the stomach digests food. This keeps more acid in the stomach longer, and leads to heartburn, indigestion, nausea, and vomiting.
• Alcohol makes your blood vessels expand, which can cause migraine-like headaches.
• Alcohol causes your blood sugar levels to fall. The liver is busy detoxifying alcohol and can't convert glycogen, which is essentially stored sugar, into glucose for the body's needs. In alcoholics, a damaged liver may be unable to store sugar so that blood sugar levels stay too high.
• Alcohol makes you sleepy, but your quality of sleep is decreased. You can't get enough sleep to feel refreshed the next morning even if you don't stay out late.
• Beer contains congeners, flavoring agents from the malt, hops, and other ingredients, which give it flavor. These chemicals make dehydration worse, and slow down digestion even more. 'This is the reason beer causes worse hangovers than stronger alcoholic beverages that don't contain congeners, such as vodka.

See Also: Health Benefits Of Beer

There are alcohol-free beers, of course, but people usually don't like them. What could possibly be done to beer to make it hangover-proof?

How to Make a Beer Hangover-Proof

Scientists at Australia's Griffin University brewed their wonder-beer by adding electrolytes to the water used to make it. They made test batches of regular and "light" beer, and then gave the beer to volunteers who had just done a vigorous (and potentially dehydrating) workout.

The research team found that light beer with electrolytes was three times more hydrating than regular beer. Unfortunately, regular beer with electroyltes added showed no advantages over regular beer brewed without the electrolytes. Moreover, the Australian scientists reported that participants in the trial could not taste the difference between light beer with electrolytes and regular beer with electrolytes, which suggests that both beers tasted bad. Most connoisseurs of beer readily distinguish between light beer and regular beer, and electrolytes like potassium usually have a bitter taste. And even if you don't care how your beer tastes, the Griffin University's creation is not yet commercially available.

So what can you do to continue drinking regular beer while minimizing your hangover the next day?

• Thirst and fatigue are usually the worst symptoms of a hangover. Anything you can do to minimize thirst, such as drinking beverages with electrolytes (for example, Gatorade) the next day, will help you get over a hangover faster.
• Drinking coffee when you get home instead of the next morning can help you sleep better.
• Drinking a glass of water when you get home--if you have bladder control--can help you sleep better and feel better the next morning.
• If you have migraines, be careful how much you drink. People who have migraine headaches get hangovers from less alcohol.
• Ginseng products help the liver metabolize alcohol--but the "ginseng" you can buy at a convenience store probably is not real ginseng. You will need to have a real-ginseng product on hand to take when you go to bed for maximum effects.
• Pre-drinking, as researchers call it, makes hangovers worse. Don't drink before you go out with your friends just so you will be less inhibited about drinking once you join them.
• Asian pear juice seems to increase mental awareness (which may or may not be a good thing) when drunk by people suffering a hangover.
• Smoking increases the effects of alcohol and makes hangovers worse. The liver has limited amounts of detoxifying enzymes and sometimes can't handle the toxins released in both activities at the same time.
• Melatonin helps men get to sleep after a night out drinking, but it is less helpful for women, especially women who are on estrogen-replacement therapy.
• Hangover headaches are aggravated by a chemical called acetate. Avoid vinegar-based dressings, pickles, and sushi before drinking recreationally.
• Be careful about any Traditional Chinese Medicine remedies for hangover. Those that contain kudzu () can "cure your hangover by making it so bad you won't want to drink again.

See Also: Bacteria In Wine May Bring Health Benefits

The Griffin University researchers were not the first people ever to brew a beer with electrolytes. A craft beer known as Er Boqueron, produced in La Socarrada brewery in Xativa, Spain, is made with Mediterranean sea water and is famous for not causing hangover. If you can't find Er Boqueron, however, try the recommendations above.