Know Your Limits
Contents Campaign Information …………………3 How many units are you drinking?........4 Hangover Tips…………………………...4 Alcohol Myths Explained……………….5
Charity Comm
How about staying
in for a night with welfare and donating how much you would pay for entry/ your first quaddie to Grace House? 2
Campaign Aims Know Your Limits week aims to raise awareness of drinking responsibly. Come along to all our sober events to have a week looking after your body and limiting alcohol consumption.
Remember you can get spikeys and ear plugs from behind Butler Bar! This week: Monday - Discussion “Gender Stereotypes and Alcohol� Tuesday - Welfare at Mentor Night Wednesday - Sober Night In with Film Soc and Charity Comm JCR Lounge Thursday - Welfare at Mentor Night Disney Soc Film Screening with Welfare 8-10pm JCR Lounge
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How many units are you drinking? a can of standard lager, beer or bi er – 1.8 units a pint of standard lager, beer or bi er – 2.3 units a small glass of wine (125ml) – 1.5 units a large glass of wine (250ml) – 3 units a measure of spirits (25ml) – 1 unit
Hangover ps Treatment involves rehydra%ng the body so it can deal with the painful symptoms (though the best %me to rehydrate is before going to sleep). Sugary foods may help you feel less trembly. In some cases, an antacid may be needed to se le your stomach first. Bouillon soup, a thin vegetable-based broth, is a good source of vitamins and minerals, which can top-up depleted resources. Its main advantage is that it's easy for a fragile stomach to digest. You can replace lost fluids by drinking bland liquids that are easy on the diges%ve system, such as water, soda water and isotonic drinks (available in most shops). "Hair of the dog" (drinking more alcohol) does not help. Drinking in the morning is a risky habit, and you may simply be delaying the appearance of symptoms un%l the alcohol wears off again. 4
ALCOHOL MYTHS EXPLAINED 1. The Myth: Ea ng a big meal before drinking will help keep you sober. Yes and no. Ea%ng before drinking can slow the absorp%on of alcohol by the body, but it can’t prevent you from ge6ng drunk. The Fact: The body begins absorbing alcohol through the stomach lining and small intes%ne, so if your tummy is full of food, it will take longer for the buzz to sink in. This may delay feeling drunk, but it won’t stop it completely. Eventually, the stomach will empty from dinner and alcohol absorp%on will pick up again. Drinking on an empty stomach is never a good idea, but ea%ng beforehand isn’t a free pass to pound shots, either. As with so many things when it comes to health, modera%on is key.
2. The Myth: Beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you’re in the clear. The reigning belief is that beer is a “so:er” drink that can’t cause drunkenness as quickly as, say, shots of vodka. Switching to hard liquor a:er a few beers can make the feeling come on too fast... usually resul%ng in vomit (or so the myth goes). So, star%ng with the hard stuff and then slowing down with beer should prevent the spins, right? Not so much.
The Fact: The amount you drink ma ers more than the type of drinks you consume or how you mix them. Drinking too much of any alcohol too quickly can make you sick, whether it's wine, beer, or liquor. No ma er what you're drinking, pacing is key.
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ALCOHOL MYTHS EXPLAINED 3. The Myth: Mixing alcohol with energy drinks makes you drunker. It’s easy to interpret the combina%on of an alcohol-induced buzz and an energy rush from caffeine as a higher level of “drunk.” But energy drinks don’t actually enhance the relaxed and sociable feeling caused by a few drinks. Instead, caffeine masks the seda%ve effects of alcohol that o:en cue people to stop drinking . As a result, people are tricked into thinking they have more energy than they actually do, which can push them to con%nue drinking (and poten%ally lead to nega%ve consequences such as ge6ng too drunk or having a terrible hangover the next day) . The Fact: Energy drinks alter the percep on of how intoxicated we really are, but have no direct effect on how those shots hit us. One excep%on? Mixing alcohol with diet soda may actually increase intoxica%on (but in this case it's the lack of sugar, not the caffeine content, that has an effect). While for the most part drinking too much can’t be blamed solely on Red Bull, it’s best to steer clear of this combo to stay aware of your limits and to avoid any possible nega%ve effects caused by drinking too much alcohol or too much caffeine. 4. The Myth: Darker alcohols are always healthier. Darker beers and wines generally have more an%oxidants than light beer and white wine (the darker hues are thought to signify higher flavonoid content in beers and higher polyphenol content in wines). This means that most people conclude that, while these op%ons are some%mes slightly higher in calories, they pack more nutri%onal value and are therefore inherently healthier than their paler friends. The Fact: While darker alcohols may contain more an%oxidants, they can also contain more congeners - toxic chemicals created during the fermenta%on process— which can worsen hangovers (this goes for beer, wine, rum, whiskey, gold tequila, and pre y much any drink with a darkish hue). If you need to avoid feeling sluggish the next day, switch out some of those darker drinks for lighter versions. 6
ALCOHOL MYTHS EXPLAINED 5. The Myth: Puking helps you sober up and prevents hangovers. Theore%cally, ge6ng rid of alcohol that hasn’t yet been digested (read: vomi%ng) means it won’t be absorbed by the body and can’t contribute to tomorrow morning’s headache. The Fact: Alcohol absorp%on into the bloodstream begins almost immediately, so ge6ng rid of the likely small amount in vomit probably won’t make much of a difference—if you’re already at that point, there’s likely already too much alcohol in the body's system to escape that hangover the next day.
6. The Myth: Taking Aspirin or ibuprofen before heavy drinking can reduce hangover effects. It's a nice thought: Taking a pill now will help prevent feeling awful in the morning. But while those pre-emp%ve efforts to stave off a thudding headache may seem wise, ul%mately they don’t pay off.
The Fact: Taking painkillers before pain sets in won’t help—the med’s power will wear off before that headache comes on. A word of cau%on: Absolutely do not take aspirin or ibuprofen while s%ll drinking. The painkillers can erode the stomach lining, which, coupled with the stomach irritants in alcohol, can cause liver inflamma%on and allow more alcohol into the bloodstream, resul%ng in poten%al liver damage and a higher-than-normal Blood Alcohol Content (Talk about counterproduc%ve!). Taking ibuprofen or another pain reliever the morning a:er, however, can help relieve temporary pains.
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