The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week - Ask Us Anything: Can you cure a hangover?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Did you know that there's an online cannabis company that ships federally legal THC right to your door? And talking about mood.com, they have an incredible line of cannabis, dummies, and a lot more. And you can get 20% off your first order at mood.com with promo code Weirdest. It's third party lab tested and ships directly to you in a discreet box. Best of all, everything's backed by Mood's 100-day satisfaction guarantee. And like I said, you can get 20% off with code Weirdest. So if you're looking to try some new cannabis products, head on over to mood.com. Get 20% off your first order now with code Weirdest.

Starting point is 00:00:35 That's code Weirdest for 20% off. Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for Citizens Bank. Hey, weirdos. Rachel here. Yes, Weirdest Thing is on hiatus for just a little while longer, but we couldn't keep ourselves away. We're in your feeds to share episode one of season two of Ask Us Anything.

Starting point is 00:01:12 Ask Us Anything is Popular Sciences other awesome podcast. And if you haven't listened yet, the concept is pretty great. It's a quick, fun, easy-to-digest podcast where Popsai editors sit down to dive into questions that are always plaguing you, like, why can't I touch my toes and questions that have never occurred to you. Like, what is dinosaur taste like? Or maybe that has occurred to you. But we're definitely going to get to some questions that haven't occurred to you, I promise. And your mind will be blown.

Starting point is 00:01:44 So if you like what you're about to listen to, and don't worry, you definitely will, search for Ask Us Anything, wherever you listen to your podcast and subscribe. While we're here, one more quick thing. If you haven't heard weirdest thing is going to have a live stream, show on September 21st. We're very excited and there are some special prizes you'll be eligible for if you're one of the first few people to buy tickets. So don't delay. Click that link in the episode notes and get yourself a seat, but not a physical seat. We're doing it virtually because we love you and want to keep you safe. So the seat is your couch or a friend's couch. Like you could have a

Starting point is 00:02:24 party around it as long as it's a reasonably small number of people and you open the windows or wear masks or whatever, be safe. Get vaccinated. I don't have to tell you guys this. You already know all this, but we would love to see you virtually on September 21st. So please get your tickets now. And just because we want to make extra certain you don't forget, we will be back a couple of times this month.

Starting point is 00:02:46 I'm not going to tell you when. I want to keep you nimble. But keep an eye on your feed because you'll be getting a couple of bonus episodes from Weirdest Thing before September is over. All right. That's enough from me. Enjoy season two of Ask Us Anything. Don't forget to subscribe. And I will be back with more weirdest thing for you very soon. Did you know that there's an online cannabis company that ships federally legal THC right to your door?

Starting point is 00:03:18 I'm talking about mood.com. They have an incredible line of cannabis gummies and a lot more. And you can get 20% off your first order at mood.com with promo code Weirdest. I'm not a smoker myself, but I do love the occasional weed gummy to, you know, help me go off to Dreamland. And I can't have one right now because I have a new kit. And, you know, I definitely miss it a little bit. But maybe you can have a weed gummy. And you can get one at mood.com. So the reason that different cannabis grains can make you feel different ways isn't just about the THC. It seems like it's also based on other components called terpenes. Turpines influence how a product tastes and smells. And it seems like they can also impact the way you feel. Mood partnered with

Starting point is 00:03:57 dozens of small American farms to custom cultivate flour with specific turpine profiles designed for specific moods. So you can choose your cannabis gummy, edible, flour, or pre-roll based on how you want to feel. Just go to mood.com and click Shop by Mood. And yes, it is now 100% federally legal to have really great bud shipped right to your door. It's third-party lab tested and ships directly to you in a discreet box. Best of all, everything's backed by Mood's 100-day satisfaction guarantee, and like I said, you can get 20% off with code weirdest. I'm eyeing Mood.com's Delta9-THC buttercream caramels because in addition to not being able to have THC, I also can't have dairy right now. So the idea of having a caramel that also me out and sends you to Dreamland sounds very nice.

Starting point is 00:04:42 And speaking of fun edibles, mood.com has delta 9 THC freezer pops. So if you're looking to try some new cannabis products, head on over to mood.com. Get 20% off your first order now with code weirdest. That's code weirdest for 20% off. Hello. Welcome back to Ask Us Anything where Popular Science Answers. It was your most outlandish, mind-burning questions from what the universe is made of to why not everyone can touch their toes. I'm your host, Claire Maldarelli, and we are excited to be back for season two.

Starting point is 00:05:21 We have so many great questions to answer, so let us not waste any time. This episode's question has plagued many of our listeners on particularly rough mornings. The question is, can you cure a hangover? Oh yes. This is a party trick that I would love to learn. Right. Hangovers are the worst. You might be able to manage a throbbing headache, fatigue, or dizziness on its own.

Starting point is 00:05:54 But when you combine those sensations with nausea and pretty much every other symptom in Pepto-Bismol's classic jingle, the side effects of a good night out become borderline intolerable. So, is there anything we can do about it? There must be a secret, scientifically backed hack for preventing a hangover, right? Stay tuned for the surprising answer. So hangovers, they are the worst. But knowing how to prevent them starts with knowing what actually causes them. Yeah, okay, that makes sense.

Starting point is 00:06:38 sense. Tell me more. Okay. So a quick note here that in researching this episode, I found that there is an official medical term. I love medical terms for hangovers. They're technically called basalgia, which comes from the Norwegian word cavice, which roughly translates to quote unquote uneasiness following debauchery and algae, which is Greek for pain. Yeah, so that's pretty on the nose. But you probably don't care what the proper name for your splitting headache is, so let's keep this primer moving. To the best of researchers' knowledge, hangovers are caused by a multitude of factors. One of the factors has to do with how your body rids itself of the alcohol you've consumed. Alcohol dehydrogenase, or ADHD, is the main enzyme that breaks down alcohol into acetylide.

Starting point is 00:07:38 This substance then continues to break down until it makes its way out of your body. But acetyldehyde itself is also toxic to the human body. So once you've had a few drinks and your body starts to process all of the alcohol they contain, this toxin, acetyldehyde builds up in your bloodstream and can cause symptoms like nausea. It's also possible that acetate, which is the next substance your body turns acetaldehyde into can cause hangover symptoms. Yeah, it makes sense that literal poison is involved. I mean, it certainly feels that way. But what about all the other symptoms besides puking or feeling queasy? That's where things get complicated. According to Reed Caldwell, the chief of service at the

Starting point is 00:08:27 emergency department at NYU Langone Cobble Hill in New York, it's really difficult to pin a hangover on any one thing. Caldwell told me that arguably one of the most important factors is dehydration, which can cause many of the classic hangover symptoms like headache, dizziness, lightheadedness, and thirst. Alcohol is a diuretic, which means it increases urine production. That effect can leave you really dried out if you're not chugging a glass of water for every shot or pint. People who are really intoxicated can also experience vomiting and diarrhea, which of course causes even more fluid loss.

Starting point is 00:09:10 Got it. That all makes sense. So is hydration the secret to stopping a hangover in its tracks? Drinking water definitely helps, but there's also a lot of other factors at play. Many people say that certain alcoholic beverages cause worse hangovers than others, and there is indeed some scientific evidence to back that up. Alcoholic drinks often have substances in them that give them interesting flavor, and of course colors. These substances called congeners are essentially chemical byproducts of fermentation.

Starting point is 00:09:45 A 2008 study ranked a number of alcoholic beverages by reported hangover severity. People experienced the least severe hangovers when drinking ethanol diluted in orange juice, a.k.a. a screwdriver, which was also the drink with the lowest level of congeners. Beer was next, followed by vodka, gin, white, wine, whiskey, rum, red wine, and finally, brandy. Those results suggest that hangover severity shoots up as the congeners in your drink do. Got it. So something to keep in mind before drinking brandy all evening, perhaps. Yes, maybe not the best idea if you don't want a splitting headache the next day, especially if you're drinking late into the night. Poor sleep can also

Starting point is 00:10:33 worsen a hangover. A good sleep, Caldwell says, requires certain factors like proper body temperature regulation and appropriate cortisol levels. Alcohol can affect all of these things, so you wake up feeling unrested. This can lead to classic hangover symptoms like drowsiness, dizziness, and nausea. Okay, cool. Another excuse to end social plans at a reasonable hour. Indeed. Unfortunately, there are a couple more factors. that might make you feel terrible after drinking. Alcohol itself is pretty harsh on the gastrointestinal tract. Too much of it can cause enough irritation to bring on symptoms like nausea and vomiting, as well as heartburn and diarrhea. On top of all of this, unfortunately, some people may

Starting point is 00:11:22 simply be more likely to get hung over than others. Some folks have a mutation in the gene that codes for the creation of alcohol dehydrogenase, which again is the enzyme that breaks down alcohol to produce toxic acetaldehyde. This mutation increases the rate at which alcohol is broken down, which sounds like a good thing, but also means that acetaldehyde builds up faster. Okay, so all of this brings us full circle to the original question at hand. Can you cure a hangover? Unfortunately, while many people have their own personal go-jou, to hangover foods or routines, Caldwell says there's really no magic bullet. All rats.

Starting point is 00:12:08 But that doesn't mean there's nothing to be done. Since dehydration is often involved, drinking water or an electrolyte beverage like Gatorade or Pediolite is key. Hydrating while you're drinking alcohol will make your resulting hangover less severe. And drinking plenty of fluids when you wake up will make you feel better faster. Aside from that, rest and mild painkillers can help with the symptoms too. And so can things like tums and peptobismal for those awesome GI issues. While they might make you feel like death, Caldwell says hangovers are rarely an emergency situation. So unless you are

Starting point is 00:12:52 vomiting so much that you can't keep fluids down, there's no need to go to the ER or receive IV fluids, plain water works great. I guess that might not be the magic bullet we hoped for, but at least the advice is pretty straightforward. Exactly. So, in summary, enjoy alcohol, drink water with each alcoholic beverage, stick to clear drinks when you can, and try to stop drinking a few hours before bedtime so you can get that good night's sleep. Then hydrate and medicate as needed the next morning. Good luck. Ask Us Anything is a popular science podcast. We're available on all major podcast platforms, so subscribe wherever you're listening now. And if you like what you hear, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. It helps new friends find the show.

Starting point is 00:13:42 Ask Us Anything is written, researched, and produced by all of our hosts. Audio production, engineering, and mixing is done by me, Jess Bodie. Big thanks to Grace Wade and Lauren Leffer for keeping our facts straight, Katie Belloff for designing our logo, and Billy Cadden for making our theme music. like to submit a question to ask us anything, shoot us an email at ask at popsye.com. Thanks for listening. Lots of places can expose you to identity theft. Oh, no. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats to your identity, which is way more than anyone can do on their own. If we find anything suspicious, like new loans or changes to your financial accounts, we alert you right away, all through text, phone, email, or the LifeLock app. Get the alerts that. could make all the difference. Save up to 40% your first year at lifelop.com slash special offer.

Starting point is 00:14:47 Terms apply.

The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week - Ask Us Anything: Can you cure a hangover?

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.