|
Charles MacLean is Scotland's
leading whisky writer. Over the last 15 years he has
written prolifically on the subject, has broadcasted
on television and radio and has presented lectures
and tastings in the UK and abroad. He is regular
contributor to Decanter magazine and The Malt
Advocate in the US. He is also contributing editor
of the Whisky Magazine and the Scotch Malt Whisky
Society's Newsletter and chairs it's nosing panel.
His full-length books include Mitchell Beazley's
successful Pocket Whisky Book, the standard work on
whisky brands. In recognition of his services to
Scotch whisky over many years he was elected "Keeper
of the Quaich" in 1991, the highest honor the whisky
industry can bestow. He lives near Edinburgh. “My
first return of sense or recollection was upon
waking in a strange, dismal-looking room, my head
aching horridly, pains of a violent nature in every
limb, and deadly sickness at the stomach. From the
latter I was in some degree relieved by a very
copious vomiting. Getting out of bed, I looked out
of the only window in the room, but saw nothing but
the backs of old houses... At that moment I do not
believe in the world there existed a more wretched
creature than myself. I passed some moments in a
state little short of despair; I rung a bell I found
in the room for the purpose of ascertaining where I
had got to and other particulars.” These lines might
have come from my autobiography. Or yours. In fact
they were penned by the English writer and social
commentator William Hickey in 1768. His cure?
Drinking “very strong coffee, proved of infinite
benefit.” His contemporary, James Boswell, suffered
the consequences of a terrific drinking session
while staying with Mackinnon of Corry near Broadford
in Skye, in September 1773, during his epic journey
to Hebrides with Dr.Johnson. On this occasion, the
company was drinking brandy. “I awakened at noon
with a severe headache,” he writes in his Journal,
“Soon afterwards, Corrie and other friends assembled
around my bed. Corrie had a brandy bottle and
glasses with him and insisted that I should take a
dram ... I took my host’s advice and drunk some
brandy, which I found an effectual cure for my
headache.” A contemporary head-barman, Adam Heiron
of the fashionable Atlantic Bar and Grill in London,
England, combines both Hickey and Boswell’s remedies
and adds a third ingredient: “coffee, orange juice
and ice-cold Jagermeister has kept me partying
non-stop for 10 days.” Keith Flyd, a well-known TV
chef and bon viveur, swears by “Two handfuls of
crashed ice in a glass of tinned beef consommé. And
a shot of vodka, the juice of one lemon, a splash of
Worcestershire sauce, a dash of Tabasco, 1 teaspoon
of horseradish and the yolk of an egg. Sprinkle with
salt and pepper. The effect is quite bracing, but
not for the squeamish.” This bears a resemblance to
the classic pick-me-up, the Prairie Oyster invented
during Prohibition, when bootleg grog wrought a
terrible revenge the morning after. Here is a recipe
from 1948, by David Amber, ‘the Escoffier of
cocktail barmen’: “equal measures of cognac,
vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, catsup, and
angostura. Drop an egg yolk in the center, add a
dash of cayenne. Swallow without breaking the egg.”
I recently made and drank this concoction on a
television program. It tasted surprisingly good,
although I spilled some down my tie while gagging on
the egg! To understand the thinking behind these
traditional cures we must look more closely at the
affects of alcohol. There are six, with side
affects. First, dehydration. Alcohol is a diuretic
(it makes you pee), and dehydration lies behind many
of the symptoms of hangover. It is countered by
drinking water, lots of it. Before, during and after
imbibing. It would be contrary to immemorial custom
- and wimpish - for the librarian to lay on jugs of
water in the library, but members would be well
advised to drink as much water as they can before
going to bed. And when they awaken at the call of
Nature in the early dawn, to drink more. Second,
headache. Alcohol goes quickly to the head, where it
cheerfully anaesthetizes first the inhibitory and
later the motor centers of the brain. It also
stimulates increased cardiac output, which rises
blood pressure, causing the brain to swell. Both
these cause headaches, which are alleviated by
swallowing a couple of analgesics (i.e. painkillers)
such as aspirin, codeine, or acetaminophen. I once
met a Norwegian physician who had discovered a
miraculous hangover cure used by the Lapps, made by
drawing off sap from certain northern willows.
Chemical analysis revealed that the active
ingredients in this sap was...aspirin. Third,
fatigue. Alcohol is both a stimulant and sedative.
On the one hand it stimulates the production of
insulin which reduces blood sugar and causes
drowsiness. On the other, the anesthetic affect I
have already touched on gives rise to a form of mild
paralysis, leading to stumbling and falling about.
To compensate for this the nervous system goes into
over-drive, which makes for broken sleep,
photophobia (‘shrinking from light’), ligyrophobia
(‘an aversion for loud noises’) and tremor
(‘involuntary agitation’). First, it is necessary to
replace your lost blood sugar. This is where
‘Scotland’s other national drink,’ Irn Bru
(pronounced aptly as ‘Iron Brew’, comes in. A glass
of water with sugar dissolved in it, or sweet cups
of tea, will also do the trick. Bananas are good,
since they are high in fructose (fruit sugar) and
also settle the liver. Tiredness is ideally overcome
by more sleep, but for many of us this is
impossible, and we are forced to rely on stimulants
like black coffee to keep us awake. Fourth, nausea.
Stomach acidity increases dramatically when tummies
are filled with alcohol. This causes irritation, and
to counter this the stomach produces mucous, which
in its turn leads to vomiting. Increased acidity
also causes the valve which connects the stomach to
the small intestine (called the pylorus) to go into
spasm and close down. The alcohol is then trapped in
the stomach, and mucous flows: a vicious circle.
Stomach acidity is reduced by alkaline solutions
like Alka-Seltzer, Bisodol, or bicarbonate of soda.
Milk, yogurt, or olive oil soothe the irritated
stomach lining. Food before drinking, or during,
also lines the stomach, keeping the valve operating.
A wonder-drug called Maxolon relaxes the pylorus
scientifically, and allows the stomach, filled with
the poisons you have imbibed, to pass on and be
evacuated. As an alternative, you might choose to
follow the Roman custom to eat a plate of boiled
cabbage before retiring to bed. Cabbage is in face a
‘chelator,’ a substance which amalgamates with
others - including alcohol - and carries them out of
the body. The ancients were not daft. The fifth
symptom: liverish. All this time your liver, whose
job it is to break down the alcohol, is working
overtime. But work though it does, it can only
metabolize alcohol at the rate of about 10 mls per
hour. The following morning the tired old liver can
be revived by large doses of Vitamin C - orange
juice is good, but a 1000 ml tablet of effervescent
Vitamin C is more realistic. Vitamin B is also
invaluable here. Sixth: those familiar feelings of
remorse, anxiety, and guilt. John Kears wrote sadly:
‘Wine is only sweet to happy men’ and recent medical
research indicates that psychosocial factors such as
guilt about drinking, a neurotic personality, or
‘negative life events’ are better predictors of
hangover than the amount of alcohol consumed. Guilt
is often related to what one did or said during
intoxication. It is sometimes difficult to remember
such things, which can lead to confusion and dread.
The famous English author, Sir Kingsley Amis,
recommended ‘vigorous sex’ as a hangover cure -
although he goes on to observe that this should be
with ‘an appropriate partner,’ or the guilt will be
compounded. There is no doubt that exercise, massage
and sauna baths are all good cures, if you are up to
it. ‘Heart starters’, if you like; also they sweat
out some of the toxins still harbored by the poor
body. Even a hot bath or a wet shave - preferably
being shaved by a barber, with hot towels and eau de
Cologne - perform a similar function. This
introduces a group of remedies especially useful in
allaying the psychological aspects of hangover,
which might accurately be referred to as ‘comfort
factors.’ Many popular cures actually fall into this
category, although most have some dim physiological
foundation. For example, I am told that Australians
swear by a greasy hamburger or meat pie smothered in
ketchup and washed down with tomato juice. The
Austrians prefer sauerkraut and sausages, the
Germans soused herrings and Pils; the Irish,
predictably, oysters and Guinness. The novelist
Alistair Maclean liked kippers marinated in lemon
juice; the wine writer, Andre Simon, raw herrings,
onions, and sour cream. Some feel better for a full
breakfast of eggs and bacon, toast, and marmalade.
In my experience, this often seems like a good idea,
when one wakes up hung-over in a hotel, but
invariably turns out not to be. The most civilized
‘comfort cure’ I have heard of is half a pint of
Buck’s Fizz, accompanied by a plate of very hot
fingers of French toast dipped in yolk of egg,
anchovy essence, and cayenne pepper, and lightly
fried in butter. These should be eaten alone, in
subdued light, with a choral Mass on the stereo,
while reclining on a chaise longue after a hot bath.
The Hair of the Dog You may have noticed that many
of the hangover cures I have mentioned recommend a
further intake of alcohol the morning after. The
‘hair of the dog,’ first remarked upon by Antiphanes
in 479 BC. Surely this merely delays the evil
effects of drink? A recent article in the British
Medical Journal (4 January 1997, by Dr. Ian Calder)
reveals that ethanol (pure ethyl alcohol, that which
makes us drunk) may play only a minor role in
producing the symptoms of hangover. He points out
that hangovers are worst when almost all ethanol has
been cleared from the blood - the familiar
experience of wakening up feeling not too bad and
then feeling ghastly by the end of the morning.
Doctors now believe that the real causes of
hangovers are ‘congeners’ - the complex organic
compounds which lend aroma and flavor to alcohol,
rather than ethanol itself. Congeners also lend
color, which is why one feels worse after a night on
brandy, port, red wine, or whisk(e)y (in descending
order of severity) than when drinking white wine,
gin, or vodka. Far and away the worst of the many
congeners present in alcohol, albeit in minute
quantities, is methanol. Also called “wood alcohol,’
this is poisonous in even small doses. My father, a
ship’s surgeon during World War II, was called to a
captured U-boat at Rosyth, near Edinburgh, during
Christmas 1945. The sailors, who had not yet been
repatriated, had been making ‘schnappes’ by crudely
distilling torpedo-tube cleaning fluid. By the time
he arrived three were dead and six blind. The
distillate was methyl, not ethyl, alcohol. The
quantity of methanol in a normal alcoholic drink is
minuscule, but medical scientists believe that this
tiny amount, metabolized into formaldehyde and
formic acid, is the principal cause of the
hangover.(Jones, A.W.: Elimination half-life of
methanol during hangover; 1987). And the cure for
this? You guessed it; a small dose of ethanol the
following morning blocks the formation of
formaldehyde and formic acid, and thus, in the words
of the BMJ ‘provides an effective treatment for
hangovers.’ In conclusion, however, I must sound a
note of caution. Alcohol (i.e. ethanol and methanol)
is by no means the only contributor to the hangover.
Many other factors play a part - lack of sleep,
over-eating, smoking, emotional disturbances, and
intellectual stimulation, for example. In fact, so
many factors are involved that a universally
effective treatment is probably impossible. The
experts argue that it is also undesirable, since the
fear of hangover prompts some of us to moderate our
alcoholic intake. The argument runs that, since even
moderate amounts of alcohol can be damaging, a
penalty for consumption is in our interests. Who am
I to suggest otherwise?
|
|
What alcohol does to you and What
causes a hangover …
It is perhaps a very stupid thing to ask
anybody how it feels when you have a hangover but the fact
is that many of us don’t really know what exactly a hangover
is.
A hangover is before anything else the aftermath of
consuming alcohol.
After you ingest alcohol, your body breaks it down into
(among other things) acetaldehyde, before converting it into
less harmful substances. At the same time a host of depleted
minerals are short-circuiting your nervous system, and
that's in addition to the classic headache-and-dry-mouth
symptoms caused by dehydration. The result: nausea, twitchy
nerves, unpleasantness, pessimism, terrible brain pain, and
a temporary suspension of the laws of gravity (also
incapability of sustaining erections.) This is caused due to
the acetaldehyde’s reaction with the nerve cells of the
brain which then send confused signals to the rest of the
body doubled with a lazy, more laid back attitude of the
person. This is how we get the relaxing feeling once we have
alcohol.
However , all alcoholic beverages which
have fermented spirits in them ,contain congeners, which are
small particles which emanate when grapes, apples, wheat or
malt is fermented. While other products of the spirit are
filtered out in the process of it becoming the wine or
spirit it now is, the congeners remain due to their ability
to survive and also because of their miniscule size. These
congeners then cause a hangover which is nothing but a
headache (sometimes even a body ache). This is because the
body, built the way it is, cannot destroy these small
particles. These congeners then intervene with the normal
functioning of the body and hence the hangover.
How do I know if I have a hangover ? (stupid
question)
A hangover is the kind of feeling one
would get when he has done about 20 laps of a field in
Siberia with only his boxers on . A feverish feeling along
with acute backache, headache and ache in the thighs/legs
are the most common symptoms of a hangover. Besides these, a
person would find himself groggy and wanting to go back to
sleep even after what would normally be a good night’s rest.
Occasionally a feeling of vomiting is also likely.
Also you would know if you have a
hangover if the sight of the leftover bottle of whisky from
the night before makes you feel sick.
The severity of a hangover varies
according to . . .
a) The amount you've guzzled in a relative period of time.
The more you drink in a short amount of time, the more
you'll feel the alcohol.
b) Your own innate capacity to deal with the poisons (if we
choose to call them that) eg. the less you weigh, the more
you'll feel it.
c) Your age .The older you get, the more you'll feel the
alcohol the next morning.
Now that we know what exactly the alcohol does to your body
we might as well settle down and see what we, as mere
mortals can do about it (believe us there is a lot).
Preventing Hangovers
What to do before you go for the night
out, the actual act, and the morning after..
1) Stuff yourself a bit before you take
the drinks heavy. Launch your night at the pub with a double
order of French fries or a Hamburger. The moderating effect
this will have on the absorption of alcohol into your
bloodstream in the short term may be more important than the
clogged arteries in the long term. The reason that food is
so important is because it'll soak up the alcohol so that it
doesn't all go directly into the bloodstream.
2) Hydrate your body. Prevention is
always better that the cure. Sure, you'll probably still
wake up at 4 a.m. with a dry tongue and a desperate
compulsion to hang your head from the side of the bed , but
every glass of juice or water you force yourself to swallow
now is worth two in the morning. Everyone knows that alcohol
acts as a diuretic. In case that frequent hob-nobbing with
the urinal didn't tip you off, more is going out than coming
in and that is not a good thing at all. You need to replace
that liquid. Also avoid consuming synthetic beverages like
colas and other aerated drinks at this time.
3) Choose your poison carefully. There
are nasty heady chemicals known to mankind called congeners,
(as we talked about earlier) occurring naturally in all
fermented drinks. Generally the rule is the darker the drink
the more these troublemakers. So you are the least likely to
get a hangover with white spirits and the most with dark rum
and brandy. On a scale of least (the less likely to result
in a hangover) to most (to give that head kicked in by an
elephant feeling) these are:
- Vodka
- Gin
- Scotch
- Single Malts
- Brandy
- Rum
For non-spirits, the list is:
- White wine
- Beer
- Lager
- Cider
- Red wine
- Port
Also cheaper brands have more congeners.
Avoid if you hate the hung-over feeling.
4) Re-hydrate your body. Once you are
back home, take a leak (saves at least one nocturnal trip.)
Drink what you feel would be twice the amount of liquid you
just parted with .This would be unpleasant but really
necessary for you to be able to go to work the next morning
5) Extremely important is to avoid
painkillers or analgesics at this moment. Many people devour
them as a preventive measure but the actual effect of these
is exactly the opposite. All recipes and cures mentioned
henceforth are strictly for the morning after.
6) The morning after. Eat your rice, grains, cereals, peas &
nuts. Okay not your nuts, but the real nuts. Avoid excessive
amounts of caffeine and nicotine. Also try and drink as much
fresh juice as you can.
REMEDIES
THE CHEMICAL CURE
There are several things that you can put into your body to
ease the pain and assist rapid recovery, including a
little-known substance called cysteine. Cysteine directly
counteracts the poisonous effects of acetaldehyde. However
the availability of the substance in India is not something
you could boast about. However if you are able to lay your
hands on it take the following recipe for a sure shot cure
to the worst of hangovers
1. Take 2 aspirins
2. Take 200mg cysteine (available at select drug stores)
3. Take 600mg vitamin C
4. Take 1 tablet vitamin B-complex
Sit back and watch the science of medicine at its best.
THE HOMEMADE CURE
1 banana
6 large strawberries
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup orange juice
1-2 cups milk
¼ tsp. salt
dash of nutmeg powder
Mix in a blender and Drink it all up.
The "FOR EXTERNAL USE ONLY" CURE
A drop of rose oil on the temples dilates
your capillaries and boosts the blood flow to your brain.
Could there be a sweeter way to ease a headache?
THE "FREAKY AS HELL" CURE
Hangover Cocktail.
(We take no responsibility if this makes you feel worse than
you already do).
1 large can of tomato juice.
3 Tbs Vinegar.
1/2 teaspoon ajeenomoto
1 lemon.
2 pickled olives (subject to availability)
1 small portion anardana churan
4 slices of onion.
1 finely chopped garlic
3 Tbs sugar.
some chopped mint
3 Tsp capsico Sauce.
Salt and Pepper.
(makes it a helluva weird descendant of a virgin mary)
Mix ingredients in a container, allow to
stand for as long as possible, preferably overnight although
that means actually predicting a hangover. Which of course
is impossible. Strain and Serve.
THE “CONVENIENT FOR ALL” CURE
The best way however to avoid a hangover
remains to stay drunk! After all that’s what we are all
about. (hic..)
by Varun Cheemra
|
