Journey through false myths and commonplaces of Mediterranean culture
It is well known in popular sayings that wisdom and irrefutable truths are almost always hidden.
However, when it comes to wine and other alcoholic beverages, popular beliefs attribute to them effects that are not true or at best, so to speak, are only “half” true.
These are simple commonplaces typical of Mediterranean culture with a clear “wine-centered ” imprint .
The most surprising aspect, on closer inspection, is that in practice, the effect obtained with alcoholic beverages, especially when overdoing it, is exactly the opposite of that described and expected.
Here then, the things to know before swallowing yet another mug of beer or repeatedly lifting the elbow with a grapnel or a glass, in the hope of obtaining effects that even with all the good will, wine and companions cannot really guarantee.
The cause of the … “undertow”
What happens in our bodies when we have gone mad with alcoholic drinks, and we are in the middle of a hangover?
The Anglo-Saxons use the hardly translatable term hangover , the French a gueule de bois (“ wooden mouth”).
Both definitions, however, only partially clarify what it really feels like after drinking too much.
Perhaps the most appropriate term, if we also want from an onomatopoeic point of view, is the one used by the Spaniards who use resaca to indicate the to and fro typical of the malaise of alcoholic fatigue.
For us Italians, the medical term to indicate the after-effects of alcoholic debauchery is veisalgia from the Norwegian “kveis” restlessness and from the Greek “algia” pain.
If we don’t want to bother such sought-after terms we have to settle for the most popular hangover, bearing in mind that the ailments will be the same wherever you are and whatever you call them.
Exhaustion, throbbing head, uncontrollable thirst, nausea, weakness and a single desire, something to feel better and immediately.
The cause of so much malaise is basically attributable to a significant dehydration, since when alcohol reaches the base of the brain in its running around, it blocks the production of antidiuretic hormone .
The latter can no longer do its duty, which basically is to order the kidneys to reabsorb water from the urine.
This leads to an important alteration of the body’s water balance and yes
eliminates (through pee) more water than is absorbed.
The organism, unable to accept such a situation (water remains the most essential nutrient even if it has zero calories), reacts and hunts for water to promptly put it into circulation.
And so he is forced to borrow it even from the miserly brain, which consequently … shrinks.
The symptoms of alcoholic debauchery would therefore be all the fault of a dangerous “drought” of the brain.
Most likely it is the excessive activation of the receptors of the dura mater (the membrane that surrounds the brain) that register the atypical narrowing that causes the annoying headache and exhaustion typical of after-hangover.
The old remedy of the grandfather, in this case, seems to be valid: drink a lot of water before falling asleep in an attempt to replenish the water supplies and dilute the alcohol that has also ended up in the brain, always trusting in the clemency of Bacchus .
Alcohol, when taken in excess, also promotes the breakdown of glycogen (a substance that stores excess glucose in the liver and muscles).
The glycogen due to the effect of alcohol is then transformed back into glucose and eliminated with the pee which will consequently be much sweeter.
Result, lack of sugars and the typical weakness of those who have undergone a grueling session with weights and dumbbells, without even having passed in front of a gym.
The remedies?
In practice, there is no safe and effective hangover remedy.
A valid suggestion, before and during an alcoholic marathon, remains to eat properly, drink plenty of water before going to bed, and make a tea or sugared coffee the next morning.
In this field, men, having always established a close friendship with alcoholic beverages, have tried them all in an attempt to make the consequences of their abuse less harmful.
The wise Romans, and the Greek sages, even with all possible precautions, dilution of the wine in proportions established by Magister Bibendi or from Symposiarch , in the habit of drinking only at the end of the banquet or the symposium, they used to invoke the protection of Zeus or Jupiter before taking their leave, as a further guarantee of their well-being Soter the Salvatore to keep them away from the revenge of his son Bacchus.
The heat that … cools
In countries where the climate is particularly harsh, there is a consolidated habit of frequently resorting to drinks with a high alcohol content in an attempt to warm up and better deal with the rigors of cold.
Myself, I remember with a veil of nostalgia the days when I served the Fatherland, when the bags of the heroic Cordiale appeared among the comforts provided for the endless and cold winter nights of the armed guard. (Sometimes I ask myself: what happened to the military distillate, companion of the interminable nights in the roof terrace? I thank in advance and I promise a tip to anyone who gives me news about it).
A curiosity that binds cold and alcohol concerns the Saint Bernards, the loving mountain dogs, specialized in mountain rescue. In reality, the myth of the dog with the barrel was born thanks to a 19th century artist, Edwin Landseer , who painted a mountain rescue scene, in which the dogs wore the famous barrel around their necks.
It was just a fanciful gimmick of the painter!
The painting and the barrel on the dog’s collar were successful and inspired and convinced entire generations that Saint Bernard dogs “carried spirits between the glaciers”.
As we will see shortly, the alcoholic flasks would certainly not help the unfortunate to recover from the cold, to actually heat up they should contain hot and sugary tea.
In fact, that alcohol has a warming function, it is an erroneous belief, without meaning, with only an apparent background of truth.
Let’s see why.
Alcohol, especially in the case of excessive consumption, causes two parallel and both negative effects on the regulation of body temperature:
On the one hand it is an excellent peripheral vasodilator, consequently it increases the amount of blood that flows under the skin, producing a rapid and only temporary sensation of heat and warmth.
In fact, the increased dilation of the superficial vessels also favors a greater dispersion of heat in the external environment, with consequent cooling of the body temperature.
On the other hand, always at high dosages, alcohol would be able to depress the hypothalamic level, the seat of the thermoregulation mechanism.
In other words, alcohol would haunt the complex system responsible for keeping our body temperature constant regardless of the external one.
If what has just been described were not enough, like other nerve substances, ethanol at the level of the nervous system alters the perception of sensory stimuli.
It is precisely for this phenomenon that alcohol makes the subject less sensitive to the perception of cold, heat, pain, etc.
The vasodilating effect promoted by alcohol is all the more intense the lower the external temperature.
This serves to make us understand how absolutely contraindicated it is to give alcohol to semi-desirous people.
The resulting alcohol-induced vasodilation would disperse the already modest body heat, even though the exact opposite is perceived.
Under such conditions, it is much more advantageous to avoid further heat dispersion.
Ultimately, the habit of drinking hard alcohol when cold is a popular, unfounded habit.
The momentary relief from the cold generated by alcohol is nothing more than a deception, a perception caused by the combined effect of the sensory alteration and the rapid peripheral vasodilation which will soon prove counterproductive.
Nothing quaestio, the cultured Latin people would have said to sip a glass of steaming mulled wine in front of a fireplace, and maybe even with the right company on evenings of bitter cold. In these circumstances it is the soul that warms up, but in all other cases it is better to rely on a blanket.
