Long time ago, on a beautiful summer evening, I was dining with one of my best friends at a cozy restaurant in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
As always, a nice bottle of red wine, or at least that was the intention.
The wine list was disappointing. The price/quality ratio was far from good, but what was even worse: the wine was too warm! (A much-heard advice is to serve red wine at room temperature. This advice comes from the days when central heating did not exist and the average room temperature was around 16°C/61 ºF.
Today this temperature is around 21°C/72 ºF and that is definitely way too hot for a red wine. NEVER serve red wine at a temperature higher than 18ºC/64 ºF. The wine doesn’t taste the same and instead of a nice bouquet you will smell alcohol!!!).
After returning the first bottle to sender, the second bottle arrived. Also too hot… In order to not spoil the good atmosphere, we decided to empty it anyway. Stupid of course, but hey, everyone makes mistakes... The next day I had a headache, nausea and a general physical condition that felt horrible. However, this malaise did not arise from excessive alcohol consumption, but from the consumption of bad wine served at a bad temperature. And that was the moment of one of my few good intentions: Never drink bad wine again...
Hangover
However, a “hangover” as it is commonly known is caused by excessive alcohol consumption, a hangover has several causes, which are related to the many effects of alcohol on the human body.
The most important include dehydration, a decrease in blood glucose levels and its many effects on the nervous system.
Alcohol has a dehydrating effect. The production of antidiuretic hormone (which prevents the formation of urine) is counteracted, causing urine production to increase.
This causes the body to become dehydrated, which leads to typical symptoms such as headache (due to reduced fluid pressure in the brain), dry mouth and lethargy, the so-called post-thirst. It is therefore always recommended to drink plenty of water after consuming alcohol.
The breakdown process of alcohol cannot be accelerated or slowed down. Your liver needs about an hour, hour and a half to break down 1 glass of alcohol so you can do the math yourself (if you still remember the amount you have been drinking).
An existing hangover can be “combatted” by drinking plenty of fluids. Caffeinated drinks are not recommended, as caffeine itself promotes fluid loss and reduces blood volume in the skull, which can cause or worsen headaches.
Eating something highly salted often helps, salt retains fluid, which is important because alcohol does the opposite, expelling fluid from the body.
Good luck & take care of yourself 😉
Roel Peters, RP-Vinos USA
コメント