In order to get back on your feet faster if you had a glass too deep the day before, it should help to consume small amounts of alcohol. Sounds strange, but the assumption persists. And indeed, it cannot be entirely dismissed. FITBOOK asked a doctor for the scientific explanation for the famous «counter beer» – and above all found out why you shouldn’t drink it.
With a hangover, it should actually be the last thing you want. And yet it is always recommended to counteract severe discomfort caused by too much alcohol the day before with a small amount of the same. It’s called «countering». And in fact, some people who are still drunk seem to feel a little better after a «counterbeer». Why is that?
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Does a counter beer help against hangovers?
FITBOOK asked a doctor, the nutritionist and internist Dr. medical Matthew Riedl. He would answer with «yes and no» that there is something to the effect of the famous Konterbier.
The explanation: When ethanol, i.e. alcohol, which is contained in different amounts in spirits, wine and the like, breaks down, various chemical compounds are formed. These are involved in the hangover. «If you continue to drink, the alcohol you take in competes with what your body is trying to break down. The symptoms improve slightly as a result,» says Dr. Riedl.
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To put it simply, with an alcohol hangover you are in a sense on withdrawal. The body literally craves for new material. If you give in now, so you keep drinking now, the withdrawal symptoms that make us feel so miserable after a night of heavy drinking diminish a little.
So the green light for the Konterbier?
Sounds like an effective, if not entirely health-conscious, solution. But it is not. “The glass in the morning may reduce the problem in the short term, or rather: postpone it. Medically, however, it makes no sense,» says Dr. Riedl – and is definitely not recommended.
Conclusion
Keep drinking to sober up? This is short-sighted thinking and certainly not in the interests of the liver. She has a lot to do after an intoxication – after all, she has to do almost 90 percent of the mammoth task of breaking down all the alcohol. A counter-beer sabotages the work of our detoxification organ and throws back the detoxification progress accordingly.
If you really want to become sober, you should do just that: stay sober.