Exactly how many beers it takes to get a hangover according to a doctor
A doctor has shared exactly how many drinks a person needs to consume to experience a hangover the next day, warning that taking it too far can result in poisoning. The expert warns that it doesn't take much for alcohol to affect the nervous system and brain.
For many Britons, consuming alcohol is a routine aspect of life. A survey conducted by YouGov revealed that approximately 82 per cent of individuals in the UK admit to drinking.
Data from 2022 indicates that six per cent of British adults have an alcoholic beverage daily, while another four per cent drink five or six days a week. One in seven (14 per cent) indulge three or four days a week, 23 per cent enjoy a tipple one or two days a week, while one in three (33 per cent) claim they drink less frequently.
Despite the common knowledge that alcohol consumption can negatively impact our health, it remains a prevalent habit. Ahead of Alcohol Awareness Week on July 7, a medical professional explained more about the immediate effects of alcohol on the body.
Doctor Bhavini Shah, a GP at LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor, shared the various stages of alcohol consumption. "One or two units of alcohol increases the heart rate, expands blood vessels, and gives a slight 'buzz' which commonly makes people feel more sociable or talkative," she explained.
As reported by The Mirror, one unit equates to 10ml or eight grams of pure alcohol, roughly the amount the average adult can metabolise in an hour. The quantity of units in an alcoholic beverage is determined by the drink's size and its alcohol content. For instance, according to the NHS, a pint of high-strength lager carries three units of alcohol, while the same amount of a weaker lager contains just over two units.
Dr Shah continued: "After four to six units, alcohol begins to impact your nervous system, decreasing reaction time and affecting areas of the brain associated with decision making, resulting in poorer judgement and potentially more reckless behaviour."
The onset of a hangover typically occurs at around eight units. This equates to approximately four pints of low-strength cider or beer (3.6 per cent) or four standard 175ml glasses of wine.
"After eight units, your vision and sleep will be affected and you will have consumed more alcohol than your liver can process in one night, resulting in a hangover," explained Dr Shah.
"And after ten units, your coordination will be highly impaired and you can expect symptoms of nausea, diarrhoea, and vomiting, as well as dehydration and headaches."
Nonetheless, consuming eight or more units of alcohol is categorised as "binge drinking" for the average man, and six or more units for women. The NHS advises that adults should not regularly exceed 14 units of alcohol per week.
It advises: "Spread your drinking over three or more days if you regularly drink as much as 14 units a week." Dr Shah added that, "after 12 units, you are at great risk of alcohol poisoning."
How to eliminate alcohol from your system
Dr Shah explained: "Your body will metabolise alcohol at its own rate and there is not much evidence that you can speed up this natural process. However, there are steps you can take to reduce the symptoms of your hangover.
"Going to sleep is a good way to let your body naturally remove alcohol from your system by itself. Drinking water is also essential as it will prevent the dehydrating effects of the alcohol and reduce the impact of headaches.
"You should also try to eat bland foods as these will increase your blood sugar without upsetting your stomach."
For guidance on reducing alcohol consumption, visit the NHS website here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
NHS opens first ever ketamine clinic for CHILDREN - kids as young as 12 left hospitalised by toxic effects of party drug
The NHS has launched the UK's first ever ketamine teen addiction clinic amid a surge in youngsters hooked on the mind-altering drug. Doctors at Alder Hay Children's Hospital in Liverpool opened the service last month after seeing 'increasing numbers' of children attending A&E, including one as young as 12. According to the specialist medics, teens had been left passing blood in their urine and even often wet the bed as a consequence of frequently taking the drug. The service aims to treat the symptoms of the ketamine abuse as well as advise children on how to tackle dependency. Experts today warned the drug, known as 'K' or 'Special K', is increasingly 'available in some schools as well as out in the community'. It comes as the dangers of ketamine have been thrown into the spotlight by the recent deaths of several celebrities. These include RuPaul's Drag Race star The Vivienne, who had a cardiac arrest after taking ketamine, and Friends actor Matthew Perry—whose death at the age of 54 in 2023 was caused by the 'acute effects' of ketamine and the opioid buprenorphine. The drug is also an ingredient in 'pink cocaine', which One Direction star Liam Payne had taken before falling off a balcony in Argentina last year. He suffered 'multiple traumas' and 'internal and external haemorrhaging' from the fall. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, Harriet Corbett, a consultant paediatric neurologist at Alder Hay Children's Hospital who helped set up the service, said: 'Sadly our youngest referral was for a patient who was 12, we're seeing a lot of 14 and 15-year-olds. 'There are an increasing number under the age of 16 which is why we've had to set up a clinic. 'No one else as far as we know is seeing quite as many children in that age group. 'We know it is available in some schools and out in the community as well. Parents can be really distressed and distraught.' She added: 'An increasing number of patients are coming into mostly the emergency department with symptoms from their ketamine use and those are increasingly from the bladder. 'They really struggle because their bladder can't hold enough urine and are often passing blood in their urine as well and having to get up at night, sometimes wetting the bed. 'Those are pretty distressing symptoms for the children. 'Ketamine gets concentrated in the urine and then gets absorbed through the bladder wall and cause it to become inflammed. 'That over time makes the bladder wall very stiff and can't stretch in the way it normally would do. 'Ketamine can cause permanent damage, so we want to see the children as early as we can to explain what it can do and what the long term picture of using ketamine looks like.' Latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show one in twenty (4.8 per cent) 20 to 24-year-olds in England and Wales last year admitted to taking the drug. This is despite Gen Z increasingly shunning other types of drugs including cannabis, cocaine and MDMA, also known as ecstasy. Nearly seven per cent of today's 16-24 year olds have experimented with 'Ket'—commonly taken at all-night raves. Government figures also show ketamine usage has risen by 85 per cent in just a year between 2023 and 2024. But deaths related to the drug, too, are up a shocking 650 per cent on 2015 and now average around one per week, according to the ONS. Yet despite these threats, social media users regularly make light of its impacts—with a trend for videos showing users in 'k-holes'—the disassociate state associated with heavy usage. Experts have long warned that rising ketamine use has been driven by both its affordability and availability. It is thought to cost around £20 a gram compared to £40 a gram for MDMA and £100 for cocaine. The drug, which comes as a powder and is usually snorted, can lead to a relaxed and dream-like sensation, but taking too much can cause temporary paralysis. Longer-term use can lead to memory loss, mental health problems and organ damage. Tolerance to the drug is known to build quickly. This leads to users needing more and more to feel the same high, which increases the risk of overdosing or experiencing adverse side effects. It works as an anaesthetic by blocking the neurotransmitter N-methyl-D-aspartate (NDMA), which controls actions in the nervous system.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Hancock: Discharging patients into care homes was ‘least-worst' Covid decision
Matt Hancock has insisted that discharging patients from hospitals to care homes in the early stages of the pandemic was 'the least-worst decision' at the time. The former health secretary admitted that forming a protective ring around care homes was 'impossible' as he doubled down on the policy, which was among the most controversial decisions of the pandemic. The Covid Inquiry previously heard there were more than 43,000 deaths involving the virus in care homes across the UK between March 2020 and July 2022. Alasdair Donaldson, a senior civil servant, was quoted earlier this week describing the toll as a ' generational slaughter within care homes '. On Wednesday, Mr Hancock acknowledged the discharge policy was an ' incredibly contentious issue ' but told the inquiry that 'nobody has yet provided me with an alternative that was available at the time that would have saved more lives'. When the pandemic hit in early 2020, hospital patients were rapidly discharged into care homes in a bid to free up beds and prevent the NHS from becoming overwhelmed. However, there was no policy in place requiring patients to be tested beforehand, or for asymptomatic patients to isolate, until mid-April. This was despite growing awareness of the risks of people without Covid symptoms being able to spread the virus. NHS 'insisted' on policy Mr Hancock, who resigned from the government in 2021 after admitting to breaking social distancing guidance while having an affair with a colleague, has now appeared at the inquiry seven times. Returning for a full-day session to face questions specifically about the care sector, Mr Hancock said the hospital discharge policy had been 'driven' by the then NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens, now Lord Stevens. Mr Hancock said: 'It was formally a government decision. It was signed off by the prime minister. It was really driven by Simon Stevens, the chief executive of the NHS, but it was widely discussed.'
ITV News
an hour ago
- ITV News
Princess of Wales opens up on cancer 'rollercoaster' on visit to Essex hospital
Experiencing cancer is 'life-changing' for both patients and their loved ones, the Princess of Wales said during a visit to a hospital in Essex. Kate said the recovery journey from cancer was a 'rollercoaster' as she discussed treatment and the importance of holistic cancer care with patients, volunteers and staff at Colchester Hospital's Wellbeing Centre on Wednesday. The princess, who revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer in March last year, praised the centre's 'holistic' approach to the support it offers patients, relatives and carers which includes counselling and dietary advice. While chatting to a group of the centre's users, volunteers and staff, the princess said: 'It's life-changing for anyone, through first diagnosis or post-treatment and things like that, it is life-changing experience both for the individual patient but also for the families as well. "Actually it sometimes goes unrecognised. You don't necessarily, particularly when it's the first time, you don't appreciate how much impact it is going to have. 'You have to find your new normal and that takes time. 'Someone described the sort of healing, recovery journey to me as being like a sort of zig-zag. 'It's a rollercoaster, it's not one smooth plain, which you expect it to be, but the reality is it's not, you go through hard times and to have a place like this, to have the support network, whether it's through creativity and singing or gardening, whatever it might be, is so valuable and it's great that this community has it. 'It would be great if lots of communities had this kind of support.' She added: 'There is this whole phase when you finish your treatment that you, yourself, everybody [thinks], 'Right you've finished your time, go, you're better', and that's not the case at all.' After visiting the centre, the princess braved the drizzly weather to plant several coral-pink Catherine's Rose plants in the hospital's Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Wellbeing Garden. The RHS named the flower after Kate to raise awareness of the role that spending time outdoors plays in supporting people's mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing. Foregoing gardening gloves which were offered to her, she knelt down to plant the roses using her bare hands and a trowel to pat down the soil alongside Adam Frost, the award-winning garden designer who led the design of the space. Opened in July last year, the wellbeing garden at the hospital offers a relaxing and restorative space for NHS staff, patients and visitors.
