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From: djl@fisher.UUCP (Dan Levin)
Newsgroups: net.med,net.college
Subject: Re: prevention of hangovers
Message-ID: <1357@fisher.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 13-Jan-86 14:49:49 EST
Article-I.D.: fisher.1357
Posted: Mon Jan 13 14:49:49 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 14-Jan-86 06:18:31 EST
References: <3122@sdcc3.UUCP> <587@scc.UUCP> <457@mhuxl.UUCP>
Organization: Princeton University.Mathematics
Lines: 27
Xref: watmath net.med:3127 net.college:988

> Friends who are organic chemists claimed that alcohol does not cause
> hangovers but the impurities found with alcohol cause hangovers.
> They always drank lab alcohol and never had hangovers.

Well, after that extremely enlightening (if somewhat lengthy)
discussion, (not the one above, the other one...) I can but add
a slightly simpler explaination.

There are two problems with drinking, as I have been led to understand.
One is the impurities.  Here, drinking USP ethanol wins big.  Also
tastes great, try it straight from the freezer.  The second problem,
and the more difficult one to solve, is the dehydration.  Especially
of the brain and surrounding tissue.  This leads to headache, as we
all know.  The win here is to drink water on the way to bed, and
every time you wake up during the night.  If you can choke down
the better part of a quart, you will probably be ok the next day.

NB:  There are certainly reactions going on that produce more poisons
than just those already found in the original drink in the form of
impurities.  I know nothing (except what I read in the referenced
article) about what to do with those.

-- 
			***dan

{allegra,astrovax,princeton}!fisher!djl
The misplaced (That car sure is rusty!) Californian