12 replies to this topic

[threshold]

I'm an undergraduate and do my fair share of partying. I was hoping to tap into the collective wisdom here and was wondering if there are any effective ways to mitigate the long term effects of alcohol on the body, and in particular its effects on the brain and nervous system.

What I've done so far is to limit my drinking, and to make sure to get plenty of water and water soluble vitamins before and after drinking. I'd also wager that some of the antioxidants such as curcumin and green tea extract that I take daily help to counteract alcohol's pro-oxidant effects.

I also found these experiments on pubmed, the results of which I find pretty compelling:

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pt=AbstractPlus

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pt=AbstractPlus

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pt=AbstractPlus

They appear to show that high saturated fat intake and low vegetable oil intake completely prevent liver damage from alcohol. Chalk up another point to paleo diets!

Any comments/ideas?

[shp5]

Interesting topic. I'm not fearing for my liver though, when you stay reasonable. Moderate doses of alcohol seem to be life extending, but I guess they do have a negative neurological effect? Same goes for testosterone?

Are there any methods to counteract these?

[threshold]

It does seem that many studies are showing that moderate levels of drinking are life extending.

One prospective cohort study:

The study followed 1,824 adults, initially between ages 55 and 65, for 20 years. Their conclusion: “even after adjusting for all covariates, abstainers and heavy drinkers continued to show increased mortality risks of 51 and 45%, respectively, compared to moderate drinkers.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pt=AbstractPlus

[JLL]

Taurine seems to protect the brain from alcohol damage.

Taurine has been suggested as a possible treatment for alcoholism (link), and acamprosate, a promising drug used to treat alcoholism and alcohol withdrawal, contains a synthetic compound similar to the naturally occuring homotaurine (link). One possible reason for helping with alcohol withdrawal is that taurine increases dopamine levels in the brain similarly to ethanol (link).

In addition to helping with staying away from alcohol, taurine also appears to reduce some of the harmful effects of alcohol in the brain. For example, taurine shields from alcohol-induced damage by reducing programmed cell death through a decrease in the immunoreactivity of caspase-3 (link). Taurine may also reduce the lack of coordination of muscle movements resulting from ethanol (link), which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you ask.

For those who enjoy the short-term effect of alcohol but are worried about the long-term effects, it's interesting to note that taurine reduces the urinary loss of selenium, chromium and manganese in rats chronically consuming alcohol (link). This suggests taurine might be useful as an anti-hangover supplement.

Some other supplements that might be helpful are ashwagandha and ginkgo biloba.

Anecdotally, green tea seems to be somewhat helpful in at least reducing hangover -- in China I saw locals drinking absurd amounts of whiskey, but they often mixed it with green tea. Some guy told us they didn't get hangovers because of the antioxidants. I was surprised to see them drinking so much because I'd thought Asians lacked the enzyme that breaks down alcohol or something.

[mikeinnaples]

NAC & Silymarin/Milk Thistle

Take the NAC before going to bed and the Silymarin in the morning.

Of course the best thing you can do is just not drunk in excess.

[kikai93]

NAC & Silymarin/Milk Thistle

Take the NAC before going to bed and the Silymarin in the morning.

Of course the best thing you can do is just not drunk in excess.

Correction:
NAC before bed with Vit C.
Milk thistle and thiamine in the morning.

Also, no more than 2-3 drinks per session is a good rule of thumb. By drinks I mean shot/5oz wine/12oz beer, not Martinis. :P

[shp5]

another nice thread

http://www.imminst.o...lcohol-deplete/

Lufega states that zinc supplementation will prevent liver cirrhosis in alcoholics!

a medicine student i know always takes a Proton pump inhibitor to protect his stomach, before binge drinking...


again, is there anything neuroprotective against alcohol consumption that has any evidence?

[mikeinnaples]

NAC & Silymarin/Milk Thistle

Take the NAC before going to bed and the Silymarin in the morning.

Of course the best thing you can do is just not drunk in excess.

Correction:
NAC before bed with Vit C.
Milk thistle and thiamine in the morning.

Also, no more than 2-3 drinks per session is a good rule of thumb. By drinks I mean shot/5oz wine/12oz beer, not Martinis. :P

The vitamin C is debatable and you are better off taking a sublingual B complex rather than Thiamine only after a night drinking ...however, the NAC and Milk Thistle alone is usually sufficient.

[xEva]

Bay leaf infusion prevents hangover headache (3-4 leaves made in a tea). Best if drank before partying and then before going to bed. Then the hangover completely prevented (certainly the one from red wine). But it can still help in the morning by dissipating it sooner. + vit B1 helps too.

This is purely anecdotal. I could not find anything on bay leaves on the net. Just try it and see if it works for you.

[waldemar]

http://www.imminst.o...ti-hangover-mix

Works fine, but I am sure that it can still be improved.

[shp5]

thanks a lot, waldemar!

Curcumin might be a good addition since it has been shown to reduce ethanol-induced brain and testicle damage among other things:

http://www.ncbi.nlm....Pubmed_RVDocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm....Pubmed_RVDocSum

bingo. Curcumin for protection of your nervous system and your testosterone levels.

now if i only could find something that cures the bad feeling in my stomach after drinking too much...

[jackdaniels]

now if i only could find something that cures the bad feeling in my stomach after drinking too much...

Try taking a Rennie tablet before sleeping, I have found that this alleviates dodgy stomach issues the following day after drinking.

[shp5]

A few years later, the combination I stuck too:

 

2g NAC well before drinking.

2g Taurine just before drinking.

 

Piracetam for concerts to get into the sweet spot with less alcohol.