Last updated 3rd June 1999.

Friends in Melbourne still pressing the case and expounding the benefits of a high alcohol lifestyle while living in the UK. (without much success despite the highly unreliable Coke machine here.

• Re: Query on Hangover Vitamins -
  • http://www.americahealth.com/B6.html

    "Hi Lox,
           The wonder drug is B6 (pyridoxin). Vitamin C helps to metabolize it,
    hence they are often sold in combination. Best taken before big session,
    but just after and before going to bed certainly helps a lot. This is
    established science as opposed to "back-bar" theorizing. The B6 system
    is temporarily damaged by excessive alcohol. Water afterwards helps too,
    due to diuretic effect of alcohol (which is often mistaken for "true"
    hangover due to mild poisoning). A few important points re dosage at
    
     http://www.americahealth.com/B6.html
    
           However, I do have a "back-bar" theory of my own to contribute,
    which is that sulfur dioxide and sodium sulfite sterilizing agents (found
    in all cheap beer and wine) are responsible for a lot of the world's
    hangovers. It is forbidden in German beer (hence the beauty of Beck's) and
    generally absent in Belgian and Dutch beer. All of these give me,
    personally, much less hangover. Australian and British beers are of course
    hideous hangover-inducers, though in my experience this is not something to
    assert too loudly in an Australian or British pub..
    
    Skol!"

• Further Information -

  • >From The Literature
    >-------------------
    >
    >In the liver, the majority of alcohol is oxidized to acetaldehyde by the
    >enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase and the co-enzyme nicotinamide adenosine
    >diphosphate (NAD)
    >
    >               CH3CH2OH + NAD ----> CH3CHO + NADH
    >
    >The acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) is then oxidized by the enzyme acetaldehyde
    >dehydrogenase to acetate:
    >
    >                 CH3CHO + NAD ----> CH3COO- + NADH
    >
    >Finally, the acetate is released from the liver and oxidized peripherally.
    >
    >Surges of alcohol do not allow the NAD to keep up, thus leading to an
    >excess of acetaldehyde and acetic acid in the body. Acetaldehyde is toxic
    >while acetic acid leads to acidosis. Acetaldehyde also competes for the
    >plasma carrier of vitamin B6.
    >
    >In addition to these biochemical effects, there is also rapid water loss
    >(diuresis) during the first few hours of alcohol ingestion, due to
    >decreased secretion of anti-diuretic hormone.
    >
    >**********
    >
    >How to Spot Sulfites in food and booze.
    >--------------------------------------
    >
    >Sulfites are common food additives used as preservatives and to prevent
    >discoloration of foods. They are most commonly encountered in dried fruits
    >and in wine. People with asthma, allergies, or a shortage of the liver
    >enzyme sulfite oxidase can suffer severe reactions.
    >
    >Sulfites have the following Food Additive Codes:
    >
    >220 Sulphur dioxide
    >221 Sodium sulfite
    >222 Sodium bisulfite
    >223 Sodium metabisulfite
    >224 Potassium metabisulfite

chemistry and biochemistry links to effects of alcohol on the human body Substance Abuse: CNS Depressants - Alcohol: Biochemistry of Alcohol http://www.nurseslearning.com/courses/corexcel/cxnrp-1600/Chap3/course/chap1/P2.html Re: How is Ethanol (Alcohol) metabolized in the body? http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/jun2000/960243246.Bc.r.html ETHANOL http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/ethanol/ethanol.html Metabolism of Alcohol http://wilstar.com/lowcarb/alcohol.htm How Alcohol Works http://www.howstuffworks.com/alcohol.htm Alcohol, Chemistry and You http://chemcases.com/alcohol/ Body of Evidence: See the Short Term and Long Term Affects of Alcohol Consumption http://www.omsi.edu/store/exhibitsales/unit.cfm?Title=Body%20of%20Evidence Alcohol and its effects http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro00/web1/Kim.html GABA receptor function without alcohol http://www.duke.edu/~amwhite/AlcGabaRec.html NORMAL GABA FUNCTION http://www.pbs.org/wnet/closetohome/animation/gaba-anim-main.html Neurobiological Mechanisms for Alcoholism http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro98/202s98-paper1/Yamashita.html The Action of Alcohol in the Brain http://www.epub.org.br/cm/n08/doencas/drugs/gaba_i.htm Exploring alcohol withdrawal syndrome http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh21-2/149.pdf ALCOHOL http://www.drugscience.org/OTA/OTA_3/OTA_3AL.HTM ALCOHOL - metabolism, etc http://www.drugtext.org/sub/alcohol.html Tobacco, Alcohol and Dopamine http://www.macalester.edu/~psych/whathap/UBNRP/Dopamine/alcoholtobac.html Alcohol and the Brain http://www.uwm.edu/People/kyles/ Alcohol in the Body (chapter 10) http://www.u.arizona.edu/~tommyb/Alcohol.html Alcohol: When GABA binds to its receptors http://www.pbs.org/wnet/closetohome/animation/gaba-text2.html Effects Of Alcohol On The CNS (Central Nervous System) http://sun.science.wayne.edu/~bio340/StudentPages/Paxton/Effects%20Of%20Alcohol%20On%20The%20CNS.htm Effects Of Alcohol On The CNS (Central Nervous System) http://sun.science.wayne.edu/~bio340/StudentPages/Paxton/Effects%20Of%20Alcohol%20On%20The%20CNS.htm Alcohol: Neurobiology and Pharmacology http://www.alcoholmedicalscholars.org/pharm-out.htm Re: RE: alcohol effects http://www.cerebral.org/Maps/msg00055.html ALCOHOL AFFECTS NEURO-TRASMITTER FUNCTION IN THE BRAIN http://www.geocities.com/goodins/physiology/Nervous.htm Drug Module: Alcohol http://www.toad.net/~arcturus/dd/alcohol.htm What exactly does alcohol do to our bodies that gets us drunk? http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/scienceshack/articles/questions/q_ou126.shtml ALCOHOL - history and effects http://www.wellesley.edu/Chemistry/Chem101/alcohol/alcohol.htm

At last, a politician saying something sensible about drugs and addiction - By Fergal Keane - 12 October 2002 http://argument.independent.co.uk/regular_columnists/fergal_keane/story.jsp?story=341741 "The most glaring omission from Mr Letwin's speech – and from the one delivered by the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, the previous week – concerns the most dangerous drug in Britain. Neither the minister nor the man who would be minister saw fit to refer to alcohol. In Simon Hughes' speech to the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton, alcohol was mentioned twice but not in any detail. Is there a lack of awareness across the political spectrum or is this a case of group denial? Just this week the charity Alcohol Concern revealed that unsafe drinking among young women doubled in the last decade. More than 30,000 deaths each year are attributable to alcohol misuse. When it comes to crime the figures are astonishing: alcohol is a factor in 60-70 per cent of murders, 75 per cent of stabbings and 50 per cent of fights and domestic assaults. Every year there are almost 1.5 million victims of violent attacks committed by people under the influence of booze. Focusing on drugs and drug-related crime alone is wrong-headed." Alcohol Concern - UK http://www.alcoholconcern.org.uk/