You’ve heard so many hangover remedies, drunk powers and breathalyzer tricks that you don’t even know what’s fact and what’s fiction. Drinking can transform you into a talented sex kitten. You can trick a breathalyzer by sucking on a penny. You can avoid a hangover with liquid caffeine. Here are a couple common fallacies about alcohol to apply to your next drinking escapade, shut up a know-it-all and/or impress your friends/boo thang.
Myth #1: Drinking kills brain cells.
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While high concentrations (like 100% alcohol used for sterilization) can certainly kill brain cells, alcohol generally does not eliminate them. Your brain functions, however, do become reduced due to impaired communication between neurons. This explains why your memory and motor skills become highly hindered during a state of inebriation. Don’t beat yourself up too much if you think you’ve gotten permanently dumber as a result of getting too turnt.
Myth #2: Coffee, shower, green tea, raw eggs, acetaminophen, etc. will cure your hangover.
Photo by Abby Wang
Hangover cures from coffee to drinking more alcohol are not scientifically proven to lessen that post-drinking god-awful nausea in the morning. In fact, coffee is a diuretic like alcohol that only dehydrates you more. Skip the coffee and load up on water instead. There are also studies supporting the hypothesis that eating complex carbohydrates like toast or crackers may help in reducing nausea by balancing out low blood sugar levels.
Or just go easier on the booze next time. You’ll thank yourself later.
Myth #3: Energy drinks + alcohol = not drunk.
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Although you may feel less inebriated, this combination actually energizes you, leading you to the false conclusion that it’s ok to drink more. Unless your plan is to get super wasted and make more poor life decisions, you might wanna take a rain check on mixing energy drinks with your alcohol.
Myth #4: Different types of alcohol affect your behavior in different ways.
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People love claiming that certain types of alcohol turn them into certain types of people (tequila, anyone?). But it’s not true. According to this study, it’s more likely due to the psychosocial factor of our expectations, which influence our reaction to a specific type of alcohol.
Myth #5: Eating before drinking keeps you sober.
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Although eating does help in the absorption of alcohol in your body, it delays rather than prevents alcohol from entering your bloodstream. However, slow absorption resulting from eating a big meal prior to drinking does help with reducing the full effect of a hangover.
Myth #6: Drinking improves your performance in bed.
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Sorry to burst your bubble. As a great playwright by the name of Shakespeare once said, “…it provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance.” Alcohol actually inhibits body sensations, making it more difficult to get aroused. If you’re a guy under the influence, you most likely won’t be so hot in bed thanks to less blood flow to your man parts.
Myth #7: It’s easy to outsmart a breathalyzer.
Photo by Abby Wang
The tips you’ve heard about sucking a penny, cigarette, battery, mint, or even eating underwear are all false. This common misconception assumes that the breathalyzer detects alcohol by smell, which is not true. The solution to this problem? You’d only be in this situation if you are intoxicated and behind the wheel in the first place, so for the sake of your well-being and others’, don’t drink and drive.
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