Deb brought up an interesting topic in the previous post's comments about why we like to eat greasy foods after a wonderful night out drinking. In the past this question has come up among our friends…usually while sitting at the Waffle House waiting for our plate of grease to come up.
Doing some hard hitting, life changing reporting, CBS’s expert, Dr. Senay, suggests eating greasy foods BEFORE you begin drinking, as the grease lines your stomach. Previous to this statement, he suggests not eating greasy food at all because it is bad for you, but really, who cares?
The key is to not drink on an empty stomach. Contrary to popular opinion, eating will not prevent you from getting drunk, the food and the alcohol are all in the same area, but as the food is digested and absorbed, so is the alcohol. It may take longer, but you are still consuming the same amount of alcohol. For me, eating then drinking just makes me feel full and I can’t drink as much. Bummer. So I do it the bad way and just drink on an empty stomach…if I continue such ignorant practices, I have stomach ulcers and lovely things of that nature to look forward too!
Now that we are on the topic of alcohol fact and fiction, let’s post some of the most common misnomers.
MYTH: Alcohol gives you energy.
FACT: Actually, it’s the opposite. Alcohol is a drug. It’s a depressant and slows down your ability to think, speak and move. Even at low levels, it affects your perception, coordination and judgment, long before any physical signs of impairment occur.
MYTH: Switching between beer, wine and spirits will affect you more than sticking to one type of alcohol.
FACT: Wrong. Your blood alcohol concentration or BAC – the percentage of alcohol in your blood – is what counts, not the beverages consumed. Alcohol is alcohol.
MYTH: A cold shower and a cup of coffee are good ways to sober up.
FACT: Although they may make you feel clean and awake, nothing sobers you up but time. Coffee is a stimulant – it’ll keep you awake but won’t sober you up.
MYTH: A "beer belly" is caused by drinking beer.
FACT: A "beer belly" is caused by eating too much food. No beer or other alcohol beverage is necessary. A study published in 2003 by the Journal of Nutrition looked at the bellies of beer drinkers, wine drinkers, spirit drinkers, and no drinkers. They measured the body-mass index (BMI) and the abdominal height of each subject. The abdominal height is the distance from your spine to the top of your abdomen (how far your tummy sticks out). The results showed beer drinkers had no more body fat than non drinkers on average. Beers range between 100 and 200 calories. You need 3500 calories to create a pound of fat. Of course beer can only add to your caloric intake, but lifestyle and genetics most likely play a bigger part in your tummy fat.
MYTH:Drinking alcohol causes weight gain.
FACT: This is a very commonly believed myth, even among medical professionals, because alcohol has caloric value. However, extensive research around the world has found alcohol consumption be does not cause weight gain in men and is often associated with a small weight loss in women.
MYTH: Beer before liquor, never been sicker - liquor before beer, you're in the clear.
FACT:The rate of consumption determines if you get sick. The mix or order has no influence on your ability to “hold your liquor”.
On that last note though, I do have theory about how this came about. When I drink beer I pretty much turn it up. I hate warm beer, so my goal is to finish it before that happens.
SO, when switching from beer to liquor one may continue to drink said drink in the same fashion the previous beer(s) were consumed. Since liquor contains a higher percentage of alcohol than previously consumed beer(s) one does not tend to wait for said higher alcohol percentage to take effect, therefore commencing stomach rejection which leads to a very, very dissatisfying morning experience.
I will be sure to do more research on the subject though.
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