Does eating before a night out stop you from getting too drunk? Is fatty food a good hangover cure? Well, here’s your answer!

I am the queen of boozy nights out, and I’m grateful to say that the hangovers have not got worse as I got older, although that’s probably because I’ve been in a perpetual drunken state since the age of 16, so I’ve never fully recovered, really. Funnily enough, however, I didn’t know that much about the true effects of alcohol or how to avoid them…

Recently, at a dinner party, we started talking about young people and how much drinking they get up to. Everyone seemed to know the best way to cure hangovers and how to avoid getting too drunk. Alcohol, you see, is a lot like abortion; everyone has an opinion about it and a solution for it, but no one really goes into the science behind it all.



Therefore, I set out to discover how true much of what was being said was, and how much of it was utter gobbledygook. The findings surprised me quite a bit.

Do hangovers get worse when you get older? Well, maybe, but it depends on various factors. See, we get hungover because the body is breaking down the ethanol in alcohol, which leads to the creation of a toxin called acetate, which makes our heads feel like they’re about to explode. In theory, as you grow older, there aren’t as many enzymes in our liver that can help break this toxin down as when we are younger. Also, our body has a slower recovery rate compared to that of a young adult. So yes, it seems that hangovers do get worse with age.



Does eating before a night out stop you from getting too drunk? Not at all, but it will delay the process, meaning that you’ll feel less drunk than someone who hasn’t eaten and has had the same amount of alcohol as you have… Having said that, the NHS still recommends you eat a good, hearty meal before you go a-boozing.

Does drinking on a hangover really cure it? Great news, guys. It actually does! But it’s not all fun and games. When drinking, your brain isn’t allowed to release glutamate, which is often blamed for hangovers. Nevertheless, once you stop drinking, the symptoms will be more or less the same.



Does mixing your drinks make hangovers worse? Nope. Hangovers have nothing to do with which drinks you mix, but with the amount and types of alcohol consumed, and how quickly you drink it. You may sometimes experience worse hangovers after drinking a cocktail, however, but that’s because it’s more alcoholic than a G&T or a Vodka Tonic. Having said that, scientists are still not 100% sure that mixing drinks is all that great for hangovers, either.

Well, cheers to that, then!

We cannot stress enough the importance of drinking responsibly and please remember not to drink and drive.

Did any of these facts surprise you?

Let us know in the comments section below.