Eating cheese before drinking could help slow the effects of alcohol on the body, an expert said (Image: Getty)
An expert has revealed a simple and tasty method that could prevent you from getting drunk too quickly and even reduce the impact of an unwanted hangover. Over the festive period Brits are likely to consume more alcohol than throughout the rest of the year.
Aside from the health risks of consuming too much alcohol, it can also lead to a dreaded hangover the next day.
While there may be no way to completely avoid this – aside from ditching the booze in the first place – there are ways to help minimise the after effects.
Speaking to his more than five million followers on social media platform , NHS doctor , suggested eating before drinking to slow the effects of alcohol.
More specifically he was responding to a post where it was explained that cheese could be the ideal food for this.
How to reduce or avoid a hangover?
The original poster said: “If you are going for a night out on the town and you are going to drink alcohol, eating cheese before drinking alcohol can decrease your risk of having a hangover. This is because cheese has a lot of protein fat and complex carbs that can coat the stomach.”
Dr Raj, however, clarified that you can’t completely protect the body from alcohol by doing this but it may help slow the absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream. He said: “Here’s a life lesson from a doctor, you can’t line your stomach or form a physical barrier before drinking alcohol to get less drunk because most of the alcohol is absorbed in your small intestine, but you can slow down digestion overall and GI transit time by consuming meals high in fats, protein and fibre and also slow down the rate of alcohol absorption.”
Using a balloon and pipe for a physical demonstration he said that these macronutrients cause the stomach to empty its contents even more slowly into the small intestine. He continued: “This delays alcohol’s entry into the small intestine, which means it’s absorbed more gradually in the bloodstream.
“So you get less spikes in the blood alcohol concentration and you get drunk much slower.” But this doesn’t only work with cheese.
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Consuming any number of calories before drinking will help. Dr Raj said: “Essentially consuming calories with or before consuming alcohol delays gastric emptying and digestion overall. It’s also why drinking alcohol with zero calorie mixes gets you drunk faster than with full calorie mixers, the sugar and calories stimulate the release of digestive hormones like gastrin which slows down digestion.”
To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level if you drink most weeks, the NHS recommends:
- Men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis
- Spread your drinking over three or more days if you regularly drink as much as 14 units a week
- If you want to cut down, try to have several drink-free days each week
Fourteen units are equivalent to six pints of average-strength beer or 10 small glasses of lower-strength wine.