With the holidays coming up and drinking to be had, I thought it was only appropriate that I share with you this "Timeline Of A Night Out" that I found courtesy of Daily Mail. Enjoy!
TIMELINE OF A NIGHT OUT (Daily Mail)
8pm: THE HAPPIEST YOU'LL BE ALL NIGHT: When that first drink reaches your stomach, the alcohol enters your bloodstream, where it makes a beeline straight for your brain's pleasure centers. After just one drink, alcohol boosts the levels of four key brain chemicals == dopamine, serotonin, naturally occurring opioids and gamma-aminobutyric acid. 'These combine to induce feelings of euphoria, relaxation and disinhibition,' explains Dr Bhaskar Punukollu, a specialist addiction psychiatrist at the Clinical Partners practice, and at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust in London.
10pm: WHY ON EARTH DID YOU SAY THAT? After two hours of drinking, now is the time you hit the dance floor and start saying things you might regret the next morning. Blame this lack of inhibition on the way alcohol interferes with communication between the nerve cells in the cerebral cortex. This part of the brain is responsible for processing information, and also initiates the majority of muscle movements. Your natural self-protection mechanism is affected, as the alcohol masks warning signals from other parts of your body.
11pm: THE WORST TIME TO DRINK WHISKY: If you do hit the stronger stuff, stick with clear drinks, such as vodka. At this point, there is the temptation to feel all is well with the world, and to move from beer or wine to stronger spirits to try to maintain your mental state. But if you do hit the stronger stuff, stick with clear drinks, such as vodka, which have lower levels of harmful impurities from the fermentation process.
12am: YES, WOMEN DO GET TIPSY FASTER: For most of us, it's this time that the body's self-preservation signals start to override the over-stimulated brain centers, and you become aware of the intoxicating effects of the alcohol you've drunk and start to want to go to bed. But some people seem to have higher levels of the liver enzymes needed to break down alcohol, so they can go on drinking for longer -- and if you're a consistent, heavy drinker, your body develops higher levels of these enzymes.
2am: CHOW TIME: 'The pancreas pumps insulin into your system to break down alcohol in your blood, and the delayed reaction is a slump in blood sugar levels, leaving you ravenous, especially for high-calorie, fatty foods.'
4am: SO THAT'S WHY YOU SLEEP SO BADLY: When it reaches a certain level, alcohol makes you feel sedated because of a slump in the same brain chemicals that induced euphoria. You'll drop into a deep sleep very quickly, but your sleep will be so deep you won't achieve any of the restorative REM-stage of sleep, which we need to make us feel rested the next morning. It's also likely you'll wake in the middle of the night with a full bladder and a raging thirst -- alcohol is a diuretic, meaning you expel more fluid in your urine than you've taken in along with your alcohol.
7am: IT'S THIRST THAT TRIGGERS HEADACHES: Processing one unit of alcohol an hour could still leave you with a blood alcohol level high enough to put you over the legal drink-driving limit, even if you stopped drinking at midnight. Blame your headache on dehydration, together with the way your liver has converted the alcohol into a chemical called acetaldehyde and then acetate as it tries to purge the poison from your body.
11am: THE WORST YOU'LL FEEL ALL DAY: Ever found that your hangover gets worse throughout the day? Here's why: 'Your liver, kidneys and other organs will have been processing the alcohol out of your system since last night,' says Dr Prince. 'But because of the relentless attack, it's only when your blood alcohol levels are back around zero that the most acute hangover symptoms will be felt.' It's also around now you might be experiencing physical withdrawal symptoms from the alcohol overload.
1pm: RECOVERY BEGINS: You should be starting to feel better around now, but you'll still be suffering the effects of sleep deprivation and potentially an upset stomach.
How true is that?? Now lets drink!
Until next time...
~Scotty
TIMELINE OF A NIGHT OUT (Daily Mail)
8pm: THE HAPPIEST YOU'LL BE ALL NIGHT: When that first drink reaches your stomach, the alcohol enters your bloodstream, where it makes a beeline straight for your brain's pleasure centers. After just one drink, alcohol boosts the levels of four key brain chemicals == dopamine, serotonin, naturally occurring opioids and gamma-aminobutyric acid. 'These combine to induce feelings of euphoria, relaxation and disinhibition,' explains Dr Bhaskar Punukollu, a specialist addiction psychiatrist at the Clinical Partners practice, and at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust in London.
10pm: WHY ON EARTH DID YOU SAY THAT? After two hours of drinking, now is the time you hit the dance floor and start saying things you might regret the next morning. Blame this lack of inhibition on the way alcohol interferes with communication between the nerve cells in the cerebral cortex. This part of the brain is responsible for processing information, and also initiates the majority of muscle movements. Your natural self-protection mechanism is affected, as the alcohol masks warning signals from other parts of your body.
11pm: THE WORST TIME TO DRINK WHISKY: If you do hit the stronger stuff, stick with clear drinks, such as vodka. At this point, there is the temptation to feel all is well with the world, and to move from beer or wine to stronger spirits to try to maintain your mental state. But if you do hit the stronger stuff, stick with clear drinks, such as vodka, which have lower levels of harmful impurities from the fermentation process.
12am: YES, WOMEN DO GET TIPSY FASTER: For most of us, it's this time that the body's self-preservation signals start to override the over-stimulated brain centers, and you become aware of the intoxicating effects of the alcohol you've drunk and start to want to go to bed. But some people seem to have higher levels of the liver enzymes needed to break down alcohol, so they can go on drinking for longer -- and if you're a consistent, heavy drinker, your body develops higher levels of these enzymes.
2am: CHOW TIME: 'The pancreas pumps insulin into your system to break down alcohol in your blood, and the delayed reaction is a slump in blood sugar levels, leaving you ravenous, especially for high-calorie, fatty foods.'
4am: SO THAT'S WHY YOU SLEEP SO BADLY: When it reaches a certain level, alcohol makes you feel sedated because of a slump in the same brain chemicals that induced euphoria. You'll drop into a deep sleep very quickly, but your sleep will be so deep you won't achieve any of the restorative REM-stage of sleep, which we need to make us feel rested the next morning. It's also likely you'll wake in the middle of the night with a full bladder and a raging thirst -- alcohol is a diuretic, meaning you expel more fluid in your urine than you've taken in along with your alcohol.
7am: IT'S THIRST THAT TRIGGERS HEADACHES: Processing one unit of alcohol an hour could still leave you with a blood alcohol level high enough to put you over the legal drink-driving limit, even if you stopped drinking at midnight. Blame your headache on dehydration, together with the way your liver has converted the alcohol into a chemical called acetaldehyde and then acetate as it tries to purge the poison from your body.
11am: THE WORST YOU'LL FEEL ALL DAY: Ever found that your hangover gets worse throughout the day? Here's why: 'Your liver, kidneys and other organs will have been processing the alcohol out of your system since last night,' says Dr Prince. 'But because of the relentless attack, it's only when your blood alcohol levels are back around zero that the most acute hangover symptoms will be felt.' It's also around now you might be experiencing physical withdrawal symptoms from the alcohol overload.
1pm: RECOVERY BEGINS: You should be starting to feel better around now, but you'll still be suffering the effects of sleep deprivation and potentially an upset stomach.
How true is that?? Now lets drink!
Until next time...
~Scotty
