On my 21st birthday, I did something that I’ll never do again…
22 alcoholic drinks in less than 24 hours.
To the amusement of my Spanish host family, I still made it to the gym the next day. And I put up decent weight.
But it wasn’t chance. Nor do I have some ridiculously privileged genetics.
Yes, I was young, but I also went in ultra-prepared. Armed with all the necessary tools to minimize the toxicity of alcohol, keep my body’s defenses up, and prevent a debilitating hangover.
These days, I don’t drink much. I prefer these awesome feel-good alcohol alternatives. However I still occasionally imbibe during social events.
In this article, we’ll explore how alcohol works, and my top booze biohacks I use to bulletproof myself against toxicity.
How Alcohol Makes You Drunk
In order to protect against ethanol, the form of alcohol we’re all familiar with, first we must explore how it works.
When you drink, ethanol enters your stomach. You immediately absorb ~25 percent into your bloodstream. The remainder travels to the small intestine where it’s slowly absorbed. After entering the bloodstream, it travels to the liver (the organ tasked with breaking down chemicals).
Every 90 minutes, the liver neutralizes about one drink’s worth of ethanol from your blood (time depends on many factors). Every additional drink stays in your blood until the liver has capacity.
Your body uses a process called oxidative conversion to break down the alcohol. An enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) metabolizes the ethanol into a toxic compound called acetaldehyde.
Alcohol’s metabolite, acetaldehyde is 30X more toxic than ethanol itself!
Another enzyme, called acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), together with an antioxidant called glutathione, converts acetaldehyde into harmless acetate and then finally into acetyl coA.
Each step generates damaging reactive oxygen species, as NAD+ gets reduced to NADH. Reactive oxygen species are oxidative stressors and are partially responsible for the damaging effects of drinking.
Damage Caused By Alcohol
Ethanol damages just about every part of human biology.
Here are a few of the notable effects.
Increases body fat
Alcohol directly contributes to weight gain.
It’s a nutritionally-devoid source of “empty” calories.
Your body must process it before other nutrients like carbs and fat. When it prioritizes metabolizing alcohol, you store the other calories you’ve consumed throughout the day (particularly carbohydrates and sugars) as body fat.
The worst kind. Visceral fat that surrounds your organs.
You won’t necessarily see this kind of fat with the naked eye. Body composition scans of frequent drinkers will highlight their proportionately higher amount of dangerous visceral fat. The same fat that’s most resistant to burning off and impacts how well your organs (and body) function.
Accelerates aging
Longevity researchers often summarize aging as the “gradual drying out of the body”.
Things that actively dehydrate us also make us age faster.
Alcohol has many nasty effects, a few of which include:
- Dehydrates
- Depletes NAD
- Depletes glutathione
- Generates free radicals
- Increases VLDL
NAD is the cellular energy currency. Glutathione is the body’s master antioxidant that protects cells from threats. Booze makes us more susceptible to disease, and then causes a surge in damaging reactive oxygen species (free radicals).
VLDL is the most problematic subset of cholesterol (technically lipoproteins).
Booze sets up the perfect rapid aging storm.
Disrupts hormones
Ethanol deleteriously impacts many hormones.
Including insulin, glucagon, cortisol, aldosterone, testosterone, and growth hormone.
Often missed by the carb-conscious crowd, irrespective of drink choice, alcohol hammers the body’s sugar regulation system.
Drinking initially stimulates insulin production. Blood sugar rises, which then causes the pancreas to pump out more insulin. It over-responds and hypoglycemia sometimes occurs.
Though we consider a drink “relaxing” or part of a “wind-down” routine, it actually activates our sympathetic nervous system. It’s biologically stressful.
Alcohol increases levels of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. Leading to increased muscle breakdown (called catabolism), and increased storage of belly fat.
Blood sugar volatility combined with elevated stress hormones give rise to increased appetite and cravings.
Hormonal changes also influence fluid levels.
The pituitary, kidneys, and cortisol all work together to regulate electrolyte balance and fluid retention.
These abnormal fluctuations lead to greater strain on the liver, kidneys, adrenals, pancreas, and other organs.
Plus, beer and cogeners (naturally occurring during the fermentation of dark liquors) are estrogenic and have a wide array of additional health consequences.
Harms the brain
Booze impairs both brain structure and function.
Dr. Amen’s work has shown that it dramatically reduces blood flow for extended periods. Even when sober, drinkers struggle with brain fog, poor memory, mental slowness, and sub-optimal function.
On top of that, the neutralization of alcohol produces highly toxic metabolites that damage the brain. This increased oxidative stress is another hallmark of diseased brains.
Alcohol also impairs proper neurotransmitter regulation. In the short term, it increases GABA, desensitizes the brain to dopamine, inhibits glutamate, and spikes serotonin.
That night, you’ll experience an excitatory neurotransmitter rebound as glutamate wakes you from your sleep.
After processing all the alcohol, however, the body responds by decreasing receptor density. Every subsequent binge requires larger doses just to get the same effect. Beginning a vicious spiral of addiction.
Worst of all, these neurotransmitter changes impact your overall mood, drive, health, satisfaction, and joy. Even when you’re not drinking.
Displaces nutrients & inflames
Alcohol harms multiple facets of nutrient absorption.
First, it damages the intestines, stomach, and overall digestion.
Booze increases gut permeability, irritates the stomach lining, and increases the production of hydrochloric acid. This interferes with proper digestion.
It also changes the composition and quality of the microbiome. Microbial overgrowth (like SIBO/SIFO) and general gut dysbiosis eventually arise in regular drinkers. Levels of a class of inflammatory chemicals called endotoxins increase.
Between hormonal fluctuations and microbial dysregulation, drinkers often struggle with blood sugar.
What’s more, alcohol alters healthy immune function. Excess drinking increases inflammation and the now-inhibited immune system cannot mitigate the harmful effects of endotoxins.
Destroys Sleep
A nightcap might appear to help you sleep, but it too does more harm than good.
Alcohol flies under the radar, but it’s among the most pernicious sleep disruptor.
It works twofold:
- Shortening sleep duration
- Worsening sleep quality
Even inaccurate sleep trackers show how badly alcohol fragments sleep. It increases micro (sub-perception) wake-ups throughout the night. It limits how much you drop into the restorative phases of sleep (mostly REM and Deep sleep).
In fact, booze is one of the strongest REM sleep-blocking substances.
If you use something like an Oura Ring, you’ll notice that a night of drinking hurts sleep and recovery metrics. Such as your Resting Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, HRV, Sleep Efficiency, and Restfulness.
Poor sleep compounds the lethargic, terrible next day.
What Causes Hangovers
Next, let’s explore how hangovers work.
First, a hangover is a collection of symptoms that include feeling “off”, fatigue, headaches, nausea, brain fog, diarrhea, constipation, dizziness, soreness, weakness, queasiness, and many others.
Generally, it occurs 6-12 hours after drinking and as a result of many factors. Some of these include hormonal fluctuations, dehydration, inflammation, impure alcohol, and damage caused by the metabolization of alcohol into highly toxic byproducts.
A few things that make hangovers worse include:
- Cogeners
- Sugar
- Sulfites
Cogeners are a class of chemicals naturally generated during ethanol fermentation and distillation. They’re especially prevalent in dark liquors. One byproduct of metabolizing cogeners (methanol), is toxic formaldehyde. It’s thought to play a crucial role in causing hangovers. This is part of the reason I recommend clear liquors like vodka.
To get an idea of how much you can tolerate pain-free, scientists have deemed a certain level called the “hangover threshold”.
This measurement equates to one gram of ethanol per kilogram of your body weight. One standard drink contains 14 grams of ethanol.
So as a 200-pound (~91 kilograms) man, that makes my hangover threshold about 6.5 drinks. If I exceed this, I’ll feel hungover.
It’s just a rule of thumb, and other factors can drastically decrease my threshold. Such as my tolerance, genetics, and epigenetics.
Decode How Alcohol Impacts Your Unique Genetics
You probably know someone that prides themselves on their ability to polish off a bottle of liquor in one sitting.
On the other side, is the one-drink-and-hungover type.
Part of that is alcohol tolerance. Part is your biochemical makeup (weight, sex, emptiness of stomach, etc).
Another large determinant is your genetics.
Our genes can help us understand, predict, and prevent the negative side effects of drinking:
- Histamine intolerance
- Neurotransmitter dysregulation
- Liver processing ability
Histamine can be a powerful force for improving cognition, focus, and attention. But alcohol can also dysregulate neurotransmitters and lead to problems like insomnia, headaches, anger, and rapid heart rate.
A powerful tool called SelfDecode (read my review here) uses your genetic data to create all kinds of reports. Including how alcohol impacts you.
ADH1B and ALDH2 are two enzymes are responsible for metabolizing alcohol into toxic acetaldehyde and from acetaldehyde into less toxic substances.
According to my report, only 7 percent of the population shares my same sub-optimal ADH1B and ALDH2 enzyme activity.
Indeed, my results concluded:
Based on the genetic variants we looked at, you may have increased sensitivity to alcohol. This means you may experience unpleasant symptoms even after having a single drink.
I rarely drink these days, but when I do, I give my liver and body extra detoxification support to offset my genetic disadvantage (and feel good the next day). I also make extra efforts to drink the right things.
Choose The Right Drinks
What you drink can make the difference between waking up feeling normal or with a splitting headache.
As a rule of thumb, the cleaner and more pure the ferment and final product, the healthier the booze.
A simple heuristic:
Potato Vodka > Gin > Tequila > Dark Spirits > Red Wine > White Wine > Beer
Clear liquors contain fewer toxic byproducts and other chemicals. Beer and wine, while less dehydrating due to the higher water content, contain sulfites, yeast, and other health-harming ingredients.
Another thing to watch out for is drink additives. Simple syrup, agave, and refined sugar worsen the hangover, further impair the immune system, increase fat gain, and facilitate binge drinking.
My go-to less-toxic drinks include:
- Vodka + sparkling water
- Vodka + tea
- Vodka + coconut water
- Tequila + lime
- Dry Farm Wines (natural, biodynamic, and organic)
As much as I love a nice whiskey, research correlates it with worse hangover symptoms than clear liquor due to the cogeners (described previously).
If you insist on beer, a gluten-free micro-brew will be your best bet. Even if you’re not sensitive to gluten. This is because drinking already increases intestinal permeability, and gliadin contained within wheat increases zonulin protein. Potentiating the gut disrupting effects.
Even better than the above, is to choose a non-ethanol drink that still gives you a pleasant buzz but without nasty side effects. Luckily, we now have options.
Try These Alcohol Alternatives Instead
It’s entirely possible to enjoy a great buzz without the toxic consequences.
As my SelfDecode genetic report and Oura Ring data show, even a single drink negatively impacts me.
Most of the time, you’ll find me sipping on one of these great healthy alcohol alternatives.
Here’s what I keep stocked in my pantry.
Hard Ketones (read my review here). Dubbed “booze with benefits”, Hard Ketones is a non-toxic molecular cousin to alcohol that has a similar buzz, but according to my Oura Ring, actively improves my biomarkers.
Ketone-IQ is another non-ethanol alcohol that you can either shoot straight up, or mix into a mocktail for a pleasant feeling.
TRU KAVA. Kava is a root endemic to the Pacific Islands. Here, bars serving kava outnumber alcohol by a ratio of 20 to 1. This drink lifts mood, relaxes, and increases sociability, all without muddying your thinking. Note that this is vastly different from “kava kava” supplements which don’t do much.
Am I missing anything? If you’ve come across something that should be on the list, leave a comment below!
How to Mitigate the Damage of Alcohol & Avoid Hangovers
We’ll start off this biohacker’s hangover prevention protocol with the things anyone can do anywhere.
From there we’ll cover the ideal drinking routine (before, during, after), complete with vital nutrients.
Then we’ll end with a summary of a simple travel-friendly kit you can assemble to bulletproof yourself anywhere.
In each section below, I will sort my recommendations from most effective (top of the list) to least. To get the most bang for your buck, focus on the first items under each category.
Anywhere essentials
A few simple tips make up your first line of defense against the toxicity of alcohol or other poisons.
These fall into three categories:
- Hydration
- Nutrients
- Kryptonites
Deep Hydration
99 out of 100 molecules in the human body is water.
You’ve heard that alcohol dehydrates. Water helps us hydrate, flush toxins out of the body, and reduces strain on the liver and kidneys. A basic rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight (pounds) in ounces of water.
As a 200-pound man, I should drink 100 ounces throughout the day.
To start, I recommend using a high-quality water filter like the AquaTru (read my AquaTru review) to remove contaminants and impurities like chlorine, chloramine, fluoride, pathogens, heavy metals, and trace residues of pharmaceuticals.
In addition to pure water, we need electrolytes. Without trace minerals, water just water logs the body, gets excreted quickly, and does not hydrate.
If plain water is too boring, you can add a slice of citrus fruit. Or mint. Or a good electrolyte powder.
Aside from these tips, you can learn more on Nick’s Healthy Morning Hydration Drink and unlock the healthy you!
With every other alcoholic drink, have a glass of high-quality water with a pinch of sea salt.
Natural antioxidants
Leafy greens, herbs, and spices all have bioprotective effects. Antioxidants offset and reduce damage caused by free radicals. They’re like a shield that protects the cell.
Great natural sources of antioxidants include:
- Brussel sprouts
- Broccoli
- Kale
- Spirulina
- Chlorella
- Berries
- Beets
- Ginger
- Turmeric combined with fat or black pepper
Cruciferous vegetables specifically contain anti-carcinogenic and glutathione-boosting indoles. Upregulating your liver’s detoxification.
These foods contain vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and phytochemicals that neutralize cellular damage, support optimal health, and carry a whole host of other health benefits.
Eat an extra serving of dark leafy greens to improve your body’s ability to detoxify alcohol and other chemicals.
Kryptonites
A few things can radically amplify the effects of a hangover.
These include:
- Additional chemicals your body must process
- Caffeine and stimulants
- Other drinks
Certain drugs and supplements burden your organs. When the liver’s already taxed from booze, Tylenol, for example, further increases the toxicity while also depleting essential detoxification nutrients. Instead of taking an NSAID to relieve your headache, opt for something like turmeric which has the same anti-inflammatory benefits and actively protects the body.
Jager bombs and caffeinated drinks might keep you going, but at a huge cost. Caffeine suppresses antidiuretic hormone (ADH). So you will pee more frequently, worsening the dehydration. If you must get a hit of caffeine, choose matcha or green tea which will give you an antioxidant infusion with less sleep disruption due to natural L-Theanine.
Even if you drink something clean like vodka on sparkling water, bartenders love to mask alcohol’s taste with something sweet (sugar, simple syrup, sweet and sour mix, etc). Watch carefully, and you’ll notice that even bitter drinks contain a hefty dose. Not to mention those post-shot “chasers” too.
A single mixed drink at most venues contains enough sugar to impair your immune system and feel lousy the next day. When you’re out, minimizing sugar requires some diligence. Ask for your drink “skinny” or without sweeteners of any kind.
Morning
When I’m planning to drink, I’ll support my body with some targeted nutrition and a few easy habits.
Choline source — a few whole eggs, an ounce of liver, alpha-GPC, or a few capsules of grass-fed organ meats provide the liver with a crucial nutrient required to run the detoxification process.
Electrolyte water — clean, quality water with a pinch of salt, a squeeze of citrus, and a splash of ConcenTrace trace minerals or Quinton (read my review). This hydrates you on the cellular level, provides plenty of calming magnesium, and protects the stomach from the flood of ethanol.
Workout — counterintuitively, exercise protects the liver against alcohol-induced damage and boosts antioxidant activity. Do something short and intense to create an anabolic rebound without overly stressing the body.
Nuts. I’ll have a large handful of nuts to get plenty of whole-food vitamin E. This helps counter the damage caused by the metabolism of acetaldehyde.
1 Hour Before Drinking
By now, I assume that you’ve had enough electrolyte-enhanced water.
The two most important pre-drinking supplements are liposomal glutathione and milk thistle. These two protect your organs and accelerate the clearance of toxic chemicals.
A larger list of best supplements to take before drinking alcohol includes:
- Liposomal glutathione (130 – 250mg). Detoxing poisons, including alcohol, depletes one of the body’s master antioxidants and protective substances—glutathione. This is the single best way to help your body offset the toxicity of alcohol. Note that only glutathione in liposomal form is effective. You can also stack a precursor to glutathione called NAC with vitamin C and thiamine to achieve similar effects.
- Milk thistle (150 – 300mg). An antioxidant known for its ability to regenerate liver cells, milk thistle also activates the protective NRF2 pathway and slows the depletion of glutathione. I love it because it’s cheap and effective.
- Schisandra (250 – 400 mg). A great all-around tonic that protects, enhances, and regrows the liver. This wonder berry also safely improves cognitive function and physical stamina. Schisandra lignans reduce liver enzymes, sustain glutathione levels, and prevent fatty liver disease.
- Activated B-Complex. Alcohol depletes the B vitamins, makes them work less efficiently, and exacerbates hangovers. They’re water-soluble, so the body already excretes B vitamins quickly and alcohol further speeds up the process. Supplementing a well-formulated complex beforehand helps offset this effect. Choose an activated (methylated) product for maximum absorption.
- N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) (1,000 – 1,200 mg). A cheap precursor to glutathione that hospitals often megadose hospitals to heal poisoning induced by Tylenol and other liver-damaging drugs. NAC also reduces the damage caused by acetaldehyde. This is a “Swiss Army Knife” supplement I always have on hand.
- Matcha tea. If you insist on an evening energy boost, matcha contains caffeine balanced out with L-theanine. L-theanine buffers the effects so that you can still sleep at the end of the night. Plus, the polyphenols abundant in matcha protects against damaging free radicals, and the drink naturally contains vitamin C, and elevates glutathione.
- Zinc (25 – 50mg). Increases levels of a critical enzyme required to detoxify acetaldehyde. Boosts the immune system, and replenishes a mineral often lost through excess urination and sweating.
- Vitamin C (500 – 1500mg). Works as an antioxidant in the body to reduce the damage caused by free radicals. Synergizes with NAC and milk thistle to work more effectively.
I used to supplement vitamin B6 to improve my body’s ability to process acetaldehyde. If you eat adequate sulfurous foods, however, supplementation is likely redundant.
At a minimum, I would choose one supplement to elevate glutathione and protect the liver, and one powerful antioxidant.
Before bed
How you end your night matters.
90-minutes cut-off. First, give yourself at least 90-minutes between your least drink and sleep. This is because alcohol inhibits melatonin release and drastically impairs sleep. It also blunts testosterone, growth hormone, and other processes associated with recovery and repair.
Electrolyte drink. 90 minutes before bed is a great time to rehydrate. Mix up ~1/2 tsp of Celtic sea salt, juice from a lemon or lime, and 12-16 ounces of water. This gives you plenty of time to absorb the liquid before sleep.
The right timing and supplementation can actually sober you up and make you feel better quickly.
My favorite post-drinking supplements are:
- Dihydromyricetin (DHM) (300 – 1,200mg). This extract from the oriental raisin tree has an illustrious history as a hangover cure. From my own experience, it’s the single most powerful anti-hangover ingredient on Earth. It exhibits impressive properties, including antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, cell death-mediating, anti-cancer, antimicrobial, and metabolic-regulation, liver protective and regenerative, and many more. Dihydromyricetin is thought to protect against oxidative stress and scavenge ROS. DHM accelerates the breakdown of acetaldehyde and actively clears alcohol from the bloodstream faster. Impressively, it prevents intoxication and even sobers you up faster. This is the only product that I can actually feel working. It’s the antidote to drinking and hangovers.
- Chlorella (20 – 30 tablets). This algae has great selective detoxification properties. It helps the body metabolize alcohol more effectively by increasing glutathione, speeding up acetaldehyde clearance, provides nutrients depleted by alcohol, contains liver-supporting chlorophyll, and even decreasing ethanol concentrations in the blood. It does all of this without stripping the body of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients (like charcoal does). I always carry chlorella with me, due to its insane nutrient density and array of effects.
- Magnesium (dose depends on form). Magnesium depletion worsens hangover symptoms. It’s also a natural anti-inflammatory and important for glutathione synthesis. Since most of us are deficient, supplementing this mineral can make a huge difference in the way you feel and the quality of your sleep. Before bed, I like 400mg of the bioavailable magnesium glycinate. Magnesium citrate is a cheaper yet still bioavailable alternative, and magnesium threonate is hypothesized to support and protect the brain.
- Activated charcoal (250 – 800mg). If you get poisoned and go into the emergency room, they’ll use activated charcoal to neutralize the toxins. Prior to discovering chlorella, I took activated charcoal every time I drank. This stuff works great like that algae, but also inhibits the absorption of nutrients. I’ve used it successfully when I came down with food poisoning. Use it sparingly.
- Melatonin. If (and only if) it’s early in the night and I have access, I will take melatonin. Never past 10 PM though. That’s because this is the body’s most important antioxidant and buffers against the massive influx of toxins. And alcohol inhibits your body’s production of melatonin. If you instead take melatonin during the wee hours, you’ll entrain your circadian rhythm to expect to sleep at that time.
There are tons of other anti-hangover remedies, but I’ve found these ingredients to work best.
With the exception of chlorella (best) and charcoal (worse), each of these stacks together.
How to Cure Your Hangover the Next Day
So you woke up feeling queasy and a bit off. Hope isn’t lost.
You’ll want to act quickly for the best effects.
Through extensive testing, I’ve found a six-step process works best:
- Sip
- Surround
- Sweat
- Shiver
- Sustain
- Supplement
Try the six S’s of hangover prevention and cure.
Sip. Start with a hydrating drink. In addition to drinking, you lose significant water while sleeping. Use the same recipe from the night before, or add some coconut water. Make sure to add a teaspoon of quality unrefined salt. Bonus points add a sprinkle of the natural anti-inflammatory, turmeric, which is just as strong as ibuprofen. If you use turmeric powder, you’ll want to also add a crush of black pepper or consume some kind of fat to make sure that you absorb it. Magnesium malate or citrate can also lessen the hangover.
Surround. Get outside for fresh air, to gently move your body, and to ground yourself. By touching the bare ground or a body of water, you absorb free electrons that act as a natural anti-inflammatory. Plus this helps normalize circadian rhythm and promotes optimal serotonin and melatonin production to speed up your recovery.
Sweat (or sauna). Get your blood pumping, kickstart detoxification, and stimulate the body’s natural pain-relieving endorphins. This should be a quick workout that leaves you with more energy.
Shiver. Contrast the heat with a quick cold shower. Cold helps blood vessels constrict, alleviates pressure, and also increases levels of pain-reducing hormones. Cold exposure can really help alleviate headaches.
Sustain. After a night of partying, a little nutritional support greatly helps the body. Eat a breakfast high in protein, produce, and healthy fats. Amino acids in protein support the liver’s phase II detox process. Produce is abundant in free radical-quenching antioxidants, and low-glycemic carbs which provide the brain with its preferred fuel. Consume choline (eggs), spices and herbs, healthy fats (avocado), sulfurous vegetables, leafy greens, or other vibrant produce (high in antioxidants). If I am on the go or want something simple, I’ll eat a small handful of chlorella tablets. Accomplishing both nutrition and also helping the body ramp up detoxification.
Supplement. If you’ve followed the other steps and still don’t feel great, you can try a few different supplements. Taurine, a naturally occurring amino acid, can help reduce hangover intensity. L-Theanine is another amino acid that can help. It increases glutathione and speeds up the processing of alcohol. These can also reduce hangover-induced anxiety. Other supplements to look into:
- Glycine
- Emoxypine
- Kratom (if the pain is really bad)
- Full-spectrum hemp
This is by no means definitive but should help get you back to baseline.
Simple Supplement Stack to Biohacking Booze
When I’m traveling light, or don’t feel like prepping an elaborate protocol, I’ll cut out almost everything.
I’m left with a short list of core anti-hangover ideas:
- Cut out all sugars and “chaser” drinks which further strain the body and accelerate aging
- Avoid Tylenol to drastically reduce the burden on your liver
- 90 minute cut off between my expected bedtime and last drink to improve sleep
Then we’re left with a few important ingredients.
If I were to devise a simple alcohol biohacking kit, it’d include:
- Water with trace minerals (or Celtic sea salt) to stay hydrated
- Green leafy veggies to provide a cellular antioxidant “shield”
- Liposomal glutathione to protect the body and support detoxification
- Vitamin C as a cheap, well-studied, and somewhat effective antioxidant
- Chlorella to neutralize ethanol’s toxic byproducts, deliver important nutrients, and scavenge free radicals out of the blood
- DHM to protect many organ systems, alleviate hangovers, and rapidly sober you up
You will really feel a difference just from these basics.
Enjoying Alcohol Without a Hangover
In my prime, I easily put down drinks.
I started to feel good around four drinks and would chase the elusive just-one-more-drink buzz.
But I refused to accept feeling lousy the next day.
So I began studying the science of ethanol. I researched all the top strategies to reduce the biological damage of drinking, and how to prevent and cure hangovers.
To my surprise, what I found allowed me to indulge in the pleasant effects more, and actually wake up feeling better too.
My friends began experimenting with my protocols and had similar remarkable results.
While I’m a proponent of hacking alcohol to minimize the downside, these days I rarely drink. No amount of hacking completely offsets the many mechanisms of damage.
Plus, I’ve found other healthy non-ethanol alternatives that feel equally as good, and have an inverse hangover. Meaning that I wake up with a glow, feeling better than usual.
Sometimes, however, I’ll find myself in a social situation where I choose to imbibe. As I write this, for example, I’m packing my bags for an upcoming wedding.
Of course, I’m bringing the essential remedies. I know that I will enjoy myself more, unencumbered by the consequences of a long night of partying.
My protocol is constantly evolving. I’m always on the lookout for new strategies, tips, and helpful supplements.
I’m curious…
What do you use to biohack your alcohol?
