It’s the most alcohol-inducing time of the year. Whether it’s the abundance of soirees you’ve RSVP’d to, or even a few casual get-togethers with old friends, there’s usually alcohol on the agenda. There’s something about the winter holidays that makes it all-too-tempting to spike that after dinner coffee, even when things are going well (i.e., you haven’t just seen your ex at a party noticeably sans winter weight). That said, managing your intake is crucial. Not only for the health & hangover reasons, but because no one wants to end up the girl bawling in her host’s spare room with a half-eaten advent calendar in her lap. Not to worry “ we’ve got the know-how to help you handle your booze the classy way this holiday.
Do bulk up
Eating is the single easiest way to keep your consumption under control. If you drink on a full stomach, it’ll take longer for the alcohol to hit. What’s in your stomach (if anything) controls how quickly the alcohol is absorbed by your intestine. But beware “ eating doesn’t prevent you from getting drunk, it just delays the process. So don’t think drinking after you’ve eaten gives you a free pass to drink more. The benefit here is that the alcohol is absorbed more slowly so that you’ll get more time out of your rational thought and (hopefully!) slow down or stop altogether.
Don’t call shotgun
You wouldn’t sit down and do nine shots in a row thinking you’d be fine. But having three or four mixed drinks can have the same amount of alcohol, especially if they’re primarily alcohol, like martinis. It’s easier to pace yourself with mixed drinks because it takes longer to drink them than shots, but many have more than one shot of liquor in them, even though the yummy taste will fool you.
Don’t mix and match
While there’s no evidence to suggest mixing different types of alcohol will make you more drunk, there’s definitely a greater chance of upsetting your stomach. Your body has to adjust quickly to absorbing different concentrations of alcohol, and it can backfire. The main danger here is the psychological effect being drunk has on consuming more alcohol than you normally would. Once you’re severely drunk, you don’t notice the taste of hard liquor like you would if you were sober. Often you’re enjoying your emotional high in the beginning too, which makes you wants to keep up the feeling and could cause you to upgrade to harder alcohol. Especially if that big swig of vodka doesn’t bother your taste buds.
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