
Alcohol Test: Does Eating Yeast Keep You From Getting Drunk? - mcgwiz
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/07/10/327854051/alcohol-test-does-eating-yeast-keep-you-from-getting-drunk
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ghshephard
That's a _lot_ of water - 16 ounces before, and after each drink? So they
drank 1.8 liters of water during this experiment. I'm honestly really
surprised it didn't have a bigger impact on reducing their BAC levels.

The water drink works extremely well for every person I know. If you simply
have a large glass of water after every drink, then, in addition to slightly
diluting the alcohol you are drinking, it also cuts in half the amount of
alcohol you drink that night - presuming you don't speed up your liquid
consumption to accommodate.

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gojomo
While I doubt Koch's trick really has the effect he reports, there are other
more-exotic mechanisms of potential action I've not seen mentioned:

Perhaps Koch's many years of drinking, _and_ repeatedly using this trick, have
resulted in a unique personal gastrointestinal flora that _does_ react to that
particular mix of inputs with accelerated alcohol metabolism.

Since people can be infected with microorganisms that create alcohol
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-
brewery_syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-brewery_syndrome)), it
seems the reverse should be possible, too.

Perhaps the pre-drink concoction even serves as a trained signal, like
Pavlov's bell, triggering Koch's flora or liver to accelerate alcohol
metabolism processes in anticipation.

Inviting Koch in for tests might provide the cheapest initial indicator
whether these could be a possibility.

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sciurus
Interesting discussion at
[http://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/23wbeo/jim_koch...](http://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/23wbeo/jim_kochs_trick_to_not_getting_drunk_xpost_from/)

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sitkack
Lots of things effect the "next day."

If you want to drink and not feel bad (in order of efficacy) * exercise *
drink water * eat well * vitamin b (this what the yeast provides)

Exercise helps you metabolize everything you throw at your body, water keeps
those chemical reactions running smoothly and allows the kidneys to remove
everything they want to. Eating well, more of the same. Alcohol strips out
vitamin b, which we need to metabolize sugar. That headache you have the next
morning is a no-sugar headache. Bingeing on sugar is one way, having an over
abundance of vitamin b is another. You piss out vitamin b, can't keep it in
your system. So a couple hours before drinking take a tab, with water AND
food. And then do the same at the end of the night. Don't take it on an empty
stomach, will make you sick.

Run some of your own science on this advice. Be active and drink well!

\----

Most people in the booze business have a BAC over 0.04 all the time. This was
science done by non-scientists.

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dmethvin
I'm not sure I believe the "keep you from getting drunk" part of this, as this
experiment bears out. However, yeast is a good source of B vitamins, and
alcohol often causes B vitamin deficiency. So taking yeast (or drinking
unfiltered beer) is a good way to avoid that. So it might help with the
hangover or long-term effects.

~~~
gilgoomesh
Alcohol blocks absorption of B1-B6 (due to preferential metabolism) but it
doesn't deplete your body of vitamin B (and your body's stores of vitamin B
may last months so you're unlikely to run out during your hangover). As long
as you're not permanently drunk (i.e. an alcoholic), vitamin deficiency
probably won't be an issue.

If you're not deficient in a vitamin, taking additional doses probably won't
give any benefit.

Belief in vitamin B helping with hangovers usually leads back to this study:

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4588294](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4588294)

but I wouldn't personally put much trust in studies from the 1970's about
Pyritinol (B6) preventing hangovers. Subsequent studies have failed to
reproduce the results. And large unnecessary doses of Pyritinol may lead to
cholestatic hepatitis and other issues so exercise caution.

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tghw
> While as scientific as we could manage

They couldn't even manage to compare yogurt with yeast vs yogurt without?

~~~
sarah2079
If the yogurt + yeast mixture had a noticeable effect then it would have been
interesting to tease apart which component was responsible, but since it
didn't I think it was fine to leave it out.

~~~
tghw
If you're deciding what to test based on your results, you're doing it wrong.
Methodology needs to be decided on before the experiment. If you want to
change what you're testing, you do it in a separate experiment.

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pbreit
Has anyone tried the yeast suggestion with success?

[http://www.businessinsider.com/yeast-key-to-drinking-
without...](http://www.businessinsider.com/yeast-key-to-drinking-without-
getting-drunk-2014-4)

~~~
jobu
Last time I looked into this I decided I wouldn't want to try it even if it
did work. ADH2 works by converting alcohol into acetaldehyde, which is not
something you want absorbed in your bloodstream (instant hangover):
[http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-
alcohol/hango...](http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-
alcohol/hangover4.htm)

~~~
escherplex
Concur. With this scheme it seems you're just adding fuel to the fire. If a
synthetic acetaldehyde dehydrogenase supplement could be scared-up (converts
acetaldehyde into acetic acid) then hangovers could be a thing of the past.
FWIW coming from NW Celt stock (Norman French, Dutch, et al) I never suffered
from hangovers, given seeming continued expression of the lactase enzyme (can
drink milk like water) and high acetaldehyde dehydrogenase output when stupid
enough to over-imbibe (like on college and grad-school weekends).

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mingabunga
Anyone know why Voltarin (Diclofenac) works for hangovers? It's an anti-
inflammatory drug. I have a 25mg tablet before going to bed after a big night,
even if I've not had water before bed, I've never have a hangover/bad
stomach/queezy/headache after taking one of these the night before.

~~~
kranner
I'd be careful with NSAIDs such as Diclofenac after drinking alcohol. It may
cause stomach bleeding.

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known
Take a [http://www.lunatus-me.com/about-us/our-
brands/pharmaceutical...](http://www.lunatus-me.com/about-us/our-
brands/pharmaceutical-products/hepamerz/) pill before consuming alcohol

------
a8da6b0c91d
The best "trick" I know for processing alcohol fast and avoiding a hangover is
plenty of sugar. Drink rum & coke and such like in preference to straight
spirits or wine/beer.

Your liver rapidly uses up glycogen reserves while detoxifying alcohol, easily
leaving you a bit hypoglycemic. The fructose in sucrose powerfully replenishes
glycogen.

The sugar advantage really is very noticeable if you experiment. You'll sober
up quicker from a screwdriver than from a glass of wine.

~~~
MisterBastahrd
Sugar is a also a vasodilator. It's well known in the cigar industry that if
you get nicotine sickness, eat some sugar to relieve the symptoms. One of the
WWE wrestlers visiting a cigar shop before a big event in New Orleans learned
this lesson from me the hard way. He had half of a medium strength cigar and
told me he was feeling REALLY good. I warned him to put it down before he hurt
himself. Didn't listen, and I got them to give him some Sprite.

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fake-name
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines)

E.g. No.

~~~
ebiester
It doesn't work here. If the yeast had really helped, the headline would have
been the same.

~~~
bottled_poe
If it were true, the headline wouldn't be phrased as a question.

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rem1313
Supposedly Milk thistle works the best against hangover
[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/3568094/The-best-
hangover-...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/3568094/The-best-hangover-
remedies-tested.html)

~~~
oneill9
Considering that the second highest rating on this report is homeopathic pills
- I would take this article with a pinch of salt and an ocean of water.

~~~
Natsu
> I would take this article with a pinch of salt and an ocean of water.

Is that supposed to make the homeopathy more effective? :)

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X4
Once I didn't get any sign of being drunk regardless of the drinks being >50%
and 70% vol. and higher, even though we danced, made push-up and have had fun
on a trampoline. To this day I still don't understand how not only I, but also
the friends who drank the same didn't get drunk. There must have been a secret
ingredient in that moonshine, because I didn't eat anything before that.

