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Having A Drink Or More? Some New Year's Alcohol Advice

DENVER (CBS4)- Some greet the changing of the calendar with a quiet night, and the expectation of food, football, and a handful of resolutions on New Year's Day.

Others, however, ring in the New Year with an axe-splitting headache, a tongue that feels like it was used to sweep the 16th Street Mall (don't remember doing that, do you?), a queasy tummy, and the desire to sleep until the end of the century.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the pleading promise of "I'm NEVER going to do that again! EVER! "

So how can you avoid the pounding journey down the hangover highway, besides obeying the old adage of "If you don't want a hangover, don't drink"?

It's a tough one, because no matter who you are, drink too much, and you will pay the piper, and that piper is not a kind person.

First, remember alcohol is a poison, although a palatable one. And to save you, your liver kicks into high gear and metabolizes and breaks down that alcohol. As it does so, it turns booze into chemicals called acetaldehyde and acetone, which are "human rat poisons" in and of themselves, especially the acetaldehyde. It is the main chemical that gives you a hangover.

So a few tips:

Lots of water. Alcohol will dehydrate you and make a hangover worse. So maybe one glass of water with every alcoholic drink.

Skip the Tylenol -- before or during drinking, and even the hours afterwards -- unless you want to roll the dice with liver failure.

Same goes for ibuprofen-type drugs-- they can be horrible stomach irritants, especially when combined with alcohol.

Go light-- meaning choose clearer liquors? Darker ones such as whiskey, scotch, bourbon, etc. contain congeners, which make a liver really work extra hard, and may increase the severity of a hangover.

So does drinking on an empty stomach. Having some food on board will slow the absorption of booze and give your liver a chance to keep up with your bent elbow a little better.

Same goes for bubbly stuff. Carbonation speeds the absorption of alcohol. (So the saying that "beer before liquor, never sicker" may have something to it. But don't count on it. Once again, drink too much of anything, and you're in trouble)

Women---beware-- even if you are the same size as a guy and drink the same amount of alcohol, you tend to have a little less of the chemicals that help break down alcohol, so you may get buzzed faster and more severely-- once again even with the same amount of alcohol.

Don't mix booze with medication. Bad idea.

How about the next day, when you need a crane to get you out of bed?

Forget the "hair of the dog"-- just don't bark up that tree. A morning drink will just draw out the misery, and postpone and prolong the inevitable.

Push those fluids! Sports drinks can be a good choice.

As for food, lots of people say "go greasy." Sure, if you want a stomachache. Grease on a raw stomach equals yuck. Maybe not the best idea.

However, there is some research suggesting the chemicals in eggs and bananas may help ease the chemical changes that are caused by alcohol.

Finally, there is the concept of sucking down oxygen or guzzling commercial hangover cures. Sure they help: by lining the pockets of people who push them as fixer-uppers.

For most a little ETOH spells a pleasant evening. A lot can spell a four letter word.

Bottom line, be safe, be smart, and be healthy.

Happy New Year! And I hope your New Year's Day is a human one.

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