7 Alcohol Facts You May or May Not Know

Continuing our focus on Alcohol Awareness we thought we would round up some facts about alcohol. Some of these you may know, some you may not. Either way, you’re bound to learn something so be sure to read on. -          The effects of alcohol can last longer than you think. Your body can take many hours to process the alcohol you consume, which is why more and more people are testing positive for drink driving the morning after they’ve been drinking. Keep this in mind the morning after. -          Your body is only capable of processing one unit of alcohol per hour, more or less. So if you consume say 10 units of alcohol and you started drinking at 8pm and stopped at midnight, your body would process that alcohol by around 6am the following day. There is no possible way to speed up this process, remember that. -          Mixing your drinks doesn’t make you get drunk faster or affect you more, popular to contrary belief. You’re likely to feel the effects on your stomach, but this isn’t making you feel under the influence any more than your blood alcohol levels are. So mixing your drinks might make you ill, but you're not feeling any more drunk that you would after consuming the same level of alcohol. -          Beer bellies have been proven to be nothing but a myth. Beers don’t really contain any sugars or fat, but it is known to stimulate your appetite, which may lead you to eat more. So, if you drink a lot you may well eat a lot too. Of course other factors can affect this, but at least it isn't the beer! -          Hair of the dog only works mentally, not physically! Your best bet to quell a hangover as best you can is plenty of water (you’re probably dehydrated), fruit juice for the vitamins, and fruits like bananas for their potassium content. An antacid tablet or similar to settle your stomach is always a good option if you feel sick. -          Alcohol prevents you from getting good night’s sleep. While you may feel like you slept better after a night on the sauce, the truth is it causes you to fall straight into a deep sleep. It sounds ideal, but you miss out on the REM (rapid eye movement) part of your sleep cycle, which is why you’ll often wake up after a couple of hours and why by morning you feel worse. -          When we’ve drunk enough alcohol can begin to affect our judgement and slow down our reactions. Combine this with impaired vision, balance, coordination and hearing and it’s no surprise that more people injure themselves when they’ve been drinking. Be careful and keep your wits about you as best you can. If you have a friend who isn't as drunk as you then hope they can 'keep an eye on' you. While some of these facts might seem like good old fashioned scare tactics in a attempt to frighten everyone off booze, we can assure you it is not! As is the point of Alcohol Awareness Month, it is about learning more about something that we consume so much of. Change 4 Life offers some useful information in the form of a leaflet called ‘Don’t Let Drink Sneak Up on You: How to Catch it Out and Cut Back’, which you can download here. You can also follow the two links below for more information: - Alcohol Concern  - Drink Aware