The Myths About Hangovers

Hangovers are not caused only from abusing alcohol. Over 100 billion dollars are spent on alcohol each year in the United States, and most of the money is spent by social drinkers. You can get a hangover after just a couple of drinks, and the people most likely to get hangovers are those who are light to moderate drinkers.

Hangovers are not only painful, but they can be harmful to your body. The symptoms are essentially your body’s reaction to being poisoned, and even a few drinks can have lasting effects on your system.

Hangovers are not “nature’s way” of keeping you from drinking too much. If this were the case, you would get a hangover after your first drink – not the morning after. Plus, many people turn to another alcoholic drink as a way to cure their hangovers, which puts them more at risk of developing an addiction.

Being able to prevent hangovers will not lead to alcohol abuse. Hangovers are not linked with personality and drinking disorders. The more you understand about alcohol and how it affects you personally, the more likely you are to practice safer drinking practices. Plus, reducing acetaldehyde levels, the chemical that is responsible for hangovers, may also reduce your cravings for alcohol.

Over the counter pain killers are not safe for hangovers. Aspirin can intensify the effects of alcohol, as well as irritate the stomach and the digestive tract. Acetaminophen can cause liver damage with just 4 or 5 pills taken over the course of a day. Ibuprofen can cause stomach bleeding if taken with alcohol or in large doses. So you may want to think twice before popping pills to help your hangover symptoms.

Coworkers with hangovers may be funny, but they are also costing your company. Since it is generally the light-to-moderate drinkers that have the problems with hangovers, they also cause the most problems in the work place because of them, and their productivity suffers more. Each year, businesses lose billions of dollars in raised insurance costs, lost productivity, and loss of workers due to alcohol consumption.

Many people think that once your blood alcohol level has returned to normal, then you can drive or operate other machinery safely. However, hangovers can last for hours or even days beyond that time. Drivers with hangovers tested worse on driving skills tests than those who were sober. It is harder to focus when you are overtired and feeling ill, making you a greater risk on the road and in the workplace.

While many people know that alcohol and hangovers are bad, in most cases it does not stop them from drinking. However, by practicing hangover prevention techniques, such as moderating how much you drink and eating when you drink, you can not only prevent hangovers from happening, but a lot of the side effects that come along with them. In the case of hangovers, an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.

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