Scientists Discover Booze That Won't Give You a Hangover 334
Kwang-il Kwon and Hye Gwang Jeong of Chungnam National University have discovered that drinking alcohol with oxygen bubbles added leads to fewer hangovers and a shorter sobering up time. People drinking the bubbly booze sobered up 20-30 minutes faster and had less severe and fewer hangovers than people who drank the non-fizzy stuff. Kwon said: "The oxygen-enriched alcohol beverage reduces plasma alcohol concentrations faster than a normal dissolved-oxygen alcohol beverage does. This could provide both clinical and real-life significance. The oxygen-enriched alcohol beverage would allow individuals to become sober faster, and reduce the side effects of acetaldehyde without a significant difference in alcohol's effects. Furthermore, the reduced time to a lower BAC may reduce alcohol-related accidents."
Beer (Score:5, Insightful)
Reducing hangover is all fine and good, but if it sobers you up faster couldn't you just get a beer with less alcohol? The effect is basically the same.
For that matter, the high and fast drunkenness is probably even worse. You know it goes away fast, so you drink faster and more. This would probably be good for taking a one quick beer at lunch or so, but hangover isn't an issue then.
If I'm going out or take some beers otherwise, I rather have it last longer and be more balanced over the night. That's also why I prefer those Belgian 11% beers. In addition to having more taste in them, one glass lasts a lot longer and you don't need to be pissing all the time.
Now give me a 80% vodka with no hangovers and I'm ready to roll.
Profit for Bars! (Score:3, Insightful)
time to soberness (Score:4, Insightful)
When you are drunk, you are for hours. I don't think removing 20/30 minutes is that relevant.
Bathroom break (Score:2, Insightful)
That only works because you end up spending half the evening in the bathroom, and therefore consume less alcohol than your buddies.
Re:Beer (Score:3, Insightful)
As a brewer by profession I would like to make it known: Oxygen is the enemy plain and simple. After/during fermentation it should not come in contact with the beer/wort until it's in the customer's glass. We take great measures to assure this.
Re:Beer (Score:3, Insightful)
That sounds like a dangerous idea in a smoking bar.
I still drink in good ol' fashion pubs, where they serve more dark ales than pale American drink (it hurts to call it beer). Most of the customers smoke. About half the bar staff smoke when there is a lull in orders. It's not an ideal place to release a gaseous oxidizer.
Re:Beer (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Hope they don't try this with hard liquor (Score:3, Insightful)
Mmmm, Everclear...
Re:Beer (Score:4, Insightful)
Kind of sad, since it shows that some people are too stupid to realize that proof is just ABV/2.
That was sort of the point of my original conversation.
Proof = ABV * 2, but only in the United States. In the United Kingdom, Proof = 7/4 * ABV. Meaning that pure ethanol is 175 degrees proof in the UK, but 200 proof in the US. A vodka that US people would call 80 proof would only be 70 proof in the UK.
Proof is basically an historical measurement only, and here in the US we don't even have the correct ratio to make it historically accurate. 7:4 is the correct ratio for the gunpowder explanation, not 2:1. So proof, as you use it, is totally meaningless.
Re:Beer (Score:4, Insightful)
I'll second that.
Another cause is nervous system acclimation to the alcohol. EtOH is a central nervous system depressant -- in response to prolonged periods of EtOH intoxication, the nervous system ramps up production of some neurotransmitters. When the alcohol intoxication wears off, your nervous system is primed to over-react to stimuli. This is why loud noise and bright light is so bothersome to people with hangovers. I believe it is also why some of the effects of dehydration (especially the headache!) are so pronounced when hung over.