Preparing to Drink
Hydrate accordingly. Alcohol will dehydrate you, so it is important to make sure you have sufficiently compensated for this. Your system will be less upset by the experience of intoxication if you are well hydrated before you have your first alcoholic beverage of the day. You should already be in the habit of drinking enough water per day to stay hydrated. If you are not, it is probably best that you start. To be clear, soda, juice and tea do not count as water. They may have water in them, but there is no substitute for pure H2O when the goal is to hydrate. Drink extra water when you know you will be having a lot of alcohol in the near future. Take physical exertion into account when deciding how much water to drink. If you went to the gym or played sports before you hit the bar, drink a lot of water before you start drinking alcohol. If you plan to drink while you are out dancing, prepare to supplement your boozy drinks with plenty of water.
Take note of other substances that cause dehydration, and be careful not to combine them with too much alcohol. The most common are caffeine, sugar and sodium. Definitely skip dessert if you plan to drink a lot of alcoholic drinks. It was recently discovered that drinking up to four cups of coffee per day will not dehydrate you as much as originally speculated. You should still be careful with stuff like energy drinks and caffeinated sodas since they tend to combine sugar and caffeine in unnatural amounts. Also note that sweeteners used in diet soda dehydrate your body more than natural sugar. If you must mix your drink with stuff like Red Bull or Cola, make sure you balance it out with a glass of water in between drinks. Keep in mind that everyone has different reactions to what they put into their bodies. Depending on your weight, height, metabolism and other biological factors, you may need to drink more or less water in order to fend off the symptoms of dehydration. Be aware of your body’s reactions to dehydration so that you can maintain control of your condition throughout the night. Early symptoms include headaches, dizziness and nausea. Be ready to put down the bottle and start drinking water as soon as you experience any of these things.
Eat a good meal before drinking alcohol. If you drink on an empty stomach, you will reach intoxication much faster and the effects will be more intense. Be careful when drinking while you eat. Some beverages, like wine, go better with food than others. Drinking beer with food might make you feel full faster. It doesn’t hurt to leave at least a full hour between eating dinner and starting to drink. With a nice hearty buffer of food in your system, less alcohol will be sent directly to the bloodstream and you will be able to enjoy more adult beverages before things get out of hand. Good foods to eat before a night of drinking are high in protein, fat and carbohydrates. Some examples are burgers, fries, eggs, bread, potatoes, bacon, tacos, etc. Fried foods, while they come with other risk factors involving general health, provide a great foundation for a saucy night on the town. Consuming alcohol to or past the point of intoxication takes a lot out of your body. You can make it a little easier on yourself if you take a general multivitamin regularly. But beware, because multivitamins require a lot of time and water in order to break down properly. If you plan to drink at night, take your vitamins in the morning with a whole lot of water.
Be aware that alcohol does not mix with most medication. Studies show that 70% of Americans take prescription meds regularly. If you are one of them, check the information packet you got from the pharmacy to see if there are any alcohol advisory warnings associated with your medicine before drinking. Check the warning labels on all over-the-counter medicines as well. Alcohol will decrease the effectiveness of many antibiotics. It may also cause nausea or other side effects when combined with such medicine. Many antidepressants and anxiety medicines should not, under any circumstances, be mixed with alcohol. It is likely your doctor warned you about this, so you should already know better than to drink while you are on these meds. Pain killers should never be combined with alcohol. Even over the counter doses of acetaminophen and ibuprofen can cause liver damage when mixed with alcohol. If you took a couple of ibuprofen earlier in the day for cramps or a headache, wait 4-6 hours before having a drink. Medicines generally require a lot of water in order to be fully absorbed into your system. Some cause dehydration. Even if your meds are okay to mix with alcohol, be sure you have consumed enough water to compensate for the difference before hitting the bottle.
Get plenty of rest. The symptoms of sleep deprivation do not go very well with the effects of alcohol consumption. Sleep deprivation causes many symptoms that are similar to those of alcohol intoxication. You will almost definitely black out faster than you would otherwise. Take this into account before you get started. If you didn’t get enough sleep last night, you may start to feel intoxicated after fewer drinks. Take a disco nap just to be safe. You can do this between getting off work and preparing to go out on the town.
Avoid drinking alone. On top of being risky, it’s not nearly as much fun. When you drink alone, it is easier to overdrink and let things get out of hand. You don’t have the fear of embarrassing yourself. There also won’t be anyone to notice if you pass out from alcohol poisoning. Be careful when you go out for drinks alone. Decreased inhibitions might make you more likely to seek out the attention of strangers and get into a potentially dangerous situation. Always go out with at least one trusted friend.
Secure a designated driver before anyone in your group has a drink. Otherwise, you stand the risk of being stranded, riding home with someone who is drunk, or ending up behind the wheel when you shouldn’t be. Set aside some cash for cab fare if nobody wants to remain sober, and remind your friends to do the same. In the event of people drinking at your place, be sure to offer crash space for those who can’t drive home. It is your responsibility as host to make sure nobody in your party is allowed to drive drunk.
Drinking Responsibly
Remember your past experiences. These should be a good indicator of what and how much you can drink without having a bad time. Most people have at least one kind of alcohol that doesn’t sit well with them. It is good to know what specific cocktails contain this type of spirit so that you can be more successful in avoiding it. If this is your first time drinking, start slowly with a couple of beers or glasses of wine so that you can get an idea of how alcohol affects you. Be extra careful when you are experimenting with something new. It can take years to become truly aware of how all the different types of alcohol affect you.
Avoid mixing too many kinds of alcohol together. Some people react better to different combinations than others, but it is generally less stressful to your system if you decide on one drink and stick to it for the whole night. Tequila is notoriously incompatible with other kinds of alcoholic drinks. Crème liqueur such as Irish Crème can mix well in certain cocktails, but is known to cause a curdling effect that may upset your stomach faster than usual. This should never be consumed in excess. Many people also experience problems when combining beer with liquor. Unfortunately, the best way to know what works and what doesn’t in this case is through your own trial and error. Some drinks have many different kinds of alcohol in them. Keep in mind that cocktails like Long Island Iced Teas contain several varieties of spirits and may be more intoxicating than other drinks. Be very careful with these types of cocktails, and limit your consumption accordingly. Cider is stronger than beer on average. Most of them are between 4-5 percent but some are 7-8.5 percent. Be careful if choosing a cider on the stronger side. It will get you drunk much quicker than you realize. Strong ciders are not recommended for beginners. Always know what you are drinking. Any good bartender should be able to tell you exactly what is in the cocktails they serve. It helps to watch your drinks being prepared so that you can be sure you know what to expect. If you are mixing your own drinks, always stick to a recipe and use a shot glass for measuring.
Be wary of sugary mixers and syrups. Beginners are especially likely to try to mask the alarming taste of alcohol with sweet mixers as a way to get the stuff down their throats. As discussed before, sugar increases the dehydrating effects of alcohol and is often associated with blackouts and hangover symptoms. Some liquors such as rum, brandy, bourbon, and cordials have a pretty high sugar content on their own. Be especially careful when combining these with sugary mixers. Keep in mind that when you order a drink like whiskey and cola, there is only one shot of whiskey in your glass. The rest of the drink is mostly high fructose corn syrup. By the time you have consumed enough of these to feel tipsy, you have also consumed two or three times more cola than alcohol. Also know that most bars do not serve 100% juice, so any fruit juice that is mixed into your cocktails is going to have extra sweeteners. Popular shots like Sex on the Beach have even less liquor in them than mixed drinks. They are served in shot glasses, but amount to less than a full shot of alcohol since they also contain mixers. Diet mixers may not contain sugar, but some sugar substitutes are known to be more dehydrating than sugar itself. If you want to avoid the dehydrating effects of sugar, the best mixers to use are soda and tonic. Soda is essentially just carbonated water. Tonic contains quinine, which has light pain killing and anti-inflammatory properties. It also contains sugar, but not as much as other carbonated mixers. Some brands of diet tonic do not contain any sweeteners at all, so this is especially good to mix with alcohol. These may not do as much to mask the alcoholic flavor of liquor, but they are less likely to contribute to vomiting, headaches, and other hangover symptoms.
Stick to top shelf brands when possible. Cheap liquor has more impurities and often leads to a rougher hangover. You may not be able to afford as many top shelf drinks per night, but they will taste better. This means you can enjoy the flavor without a bunch of mixers.
Pace yourself. It may be tempting to guzzle your drink, but then it becomes harder to keep up with how it is affecting you. It is much easier to overdrink when you drink too fast because you are not allowing the effects of the alcohol to set in before you decide whether or not to have another drink. A good starting pace for drinking alcohol is about one drink per hour. Be sure your drinks are measured properly so that you can accurately limit yourself. If you are drinking at a bar, you can rest assured that this is already under control. If you are mixing your own drinks or drinking at a party, always measure the amount of alcohol in each drink by the shot. Listen to your body. After you finish each drink, check yourself for signs of dehydration before getting another one. As discussed before, these are headaches, nausea, and dizziness. Stop drinking alcohol and switch to water as soon as you feel any of these things. Also note the condition of your basic motor skills. If you find yourself stumbling around or struggling to speak clearly, you probably shouldn’t have another drink. Listen to your friends. If someone who cares about you suggests you should slow down or stop for the night, they are probably quite right.
Know when to stop. There are a number of ways to do this, but it all comes down to awareness and self-control. These things often come with maturity and experience, so this is the hard part for people who are just learning to drink. Set a limit for yourself at the beginning of the night. Three drinks is a good limit for inexperienced drinkers. That should be just enough for you to experience the euphoria and social lubrication of light drunkenness without the throwing up, blacking out or otherwise getting out of hand. If you think you might have trouble limiting yourself, tell a friend or designated driver about your limit before you start drinking and ask them to hold you accountable. You can leave alcohol in a flask as long as you want. There are no known health risks or issues with drinking alcohol kept in a stainless steel flask for months or years. However, after some time, your alcohol may take on a bit of the flavor of the flask. If you've properly cleaned and rinsed your flask before filling it, you might start to detect a metallic taste after a week or more. If you did not properly wash and rinse your flask before filling it, you might begin to taste whatever you had in it previously.
Finishing the Night Right
Eat something. Avoid sugar in this case. You will thank yourself in the morning. Stop at an all-night diner on the way home and grab some breakfast food. Think absorbent, greasy, and high in carbs. These kinds of foods are bad to eat all the time, but as mentioned before they are really good for moving alcohol through your system without too much of it getting into the blood. At very least, snack on something absorbent like crackers, popcorn or pretzels before going to bed.
Drink at least one glass of water before sleeping. If you can, drink more. Also be sure to empty your bladder before sleeping.
Take a single 200mg ibuprofen tablet. This can serve as a preemptive strike against hangover. You should only do this AFTER consuming a meal and plenty of water. Drinking large amounts of alcohol may have temporarily damaged the lining of your stomach. Food, water and a couple of hours’ time should have improved this condition enough for a standard over-the-counter ibuprofen pill to do more good than harm. Do not take more than one pill, just to be safe. Avoid acetaminophen, as this comes with a higher risk of liver damage.
Understand that you will sleep more soundly after drinking. You will sleep more soundly, although the quality of your sleep will be lower. Do what you must to compensate for this. If you have to be up at a certain hour, set your alarm for earlier than usual. It will probably take a while for you to join the world of the living.
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