Drinking milk and consuming alcohol

[DC]

so you dont get drunk from Baileys Irish Cream?

 

[madurobob]

That's how an experienced drunk does it. Cheers, buddy!

How'r you gonna get experience if you keep drinkin' milk?

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/interactive/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=466

This seems to be the only attempt to look for scientific evidence in this thread. It's funny how certain topics seem to generate woo that goes unchallenged. Perhaps because we all have hangover anecdotes?

But the Prof's source has mixed facts and doesn't cite much science. This part is true:

...Acetaldehyde is the toxic chemical that alcohol is converted to in the body and a prime cause of hangovers.

The toxic products of alcohol metabolism take longer to break down further than the alcohol takes to break down into the byproducts. The result is an accumulation of the acetaldehyde in a kind of bottleneck as the alcohol is completely metabolized. So the idea of drinking more slowly would result in less acetaldehyde for the body to deal with at any one time.

The web page also contains the following alcohol myths, so how do we know the milk slowing absorption 'fact' is true?

If you've ever gone out for a long walk the day after a night on the tiles, you'll know it can make you feel better – but why? It's because oxygen increases the rate at which toxins from alcohol are broken down in the body.

Are they claiming there is more oxygen outdoors? Are they claiming your O₂ sats are higher outdoors? Should we consider building hospital respiratory disease wings that are open the air?

while eggs contain cysteine that is thought to mop up the toxins that build in your liver.

Cysteine is an amino acid. Your body can make it or absorb it from foods like eggs. But we know from a lot of the woo studies on supplements, simply eating more of something doesn't automatically mean more will be available for any particular tasks. It depends on whether there already is enough in the system.

The same is true for another one of the claims on the site:

Fruit is packed with vitamin C, which helps your liver to process alcohol.

Take the following with a grain of salt since it comes from a source selling supplements. I did not go to the original source of these claims, and the anti-oxidant supplement field, while based on a valid hypothesis, is wrought with treatments that have mixed results when tested.

Alcohol-Induced Hangover: Prevention

Nutrients that neutralize alcohol byproducts and protect cells against the damaging effects of alcohol include vitamin C, vitamin B1, the amino acids S-allyl-cysteine and glutathione, vitamin E, and selenium (Sprince et al. 1975; Hell et al. 1976; Loguercio et al. 1993; van Zandwijk 1995; Marotta et al. 2001)....

A study in the journal Alcohol showed how antioxidants could protect against brain damage. The study concluded by stating:
...chronic pretreatment with vitamin E prevents alcohol-induced vascular injury and pathology in the brain (Altura et al. 1999).

Another study in the journal Artery confirmed a specific toxic metabolite of alcohol (acetaldehyde) and identified an antidote (N-acetyl-cysteine) (Vasdev et al. 1995). Here is an excerpt: All known pathways of ethanol metabolism result in the production of acetaldehyde, a highly reactive compound. N-acetyl cysteine, an analogue of the dietary amino acid cysteine, binds acetaldehyde, thus preventing its damaging effect on physiological proteins.

The problem with these claims is people selling supplements take the initial finding [x does y] and then make a flying leap to the unscientific conclusion that consuming more [x] means more [y] will occur.

More from the Prof's hangover link:

Avoid coffee and tea. ... caffeine may give you a quick lift the next day, it also dehydrates and irritates your bowel. This can lead to loose stools and add to feelings of nausea and your woolly head – all of which will make your hangover seem worse.

Except we know that caffeine withdrawal causes headaches.

Milk thistle is a herbal medicine that's thought to boost liver function. The theory is you take it before you go out as well as the day after, and it helps your liver to process alcohol faster. It's not a miracle cure and its effects on hangover aren't proven, but it may make symptoms more bearable.

Nuff said.


So back to the milk: I found this related information:
Observations on the relation between alcohol absorption and the rate of gastric emptying.

Alcohol (ethanol) is absorbed slowly from the stomach and rapidly from the small intestine, and the rate of its absorption depends on the rate of gastric emptying. When gastric emptying is fast, the absorption of alcohol is fast. When gastric emptying is slow the absorption of alcohol is delayed and peak blood alcohol concentrations are reduced.

I have a hard time believing that lining the gut with milk would matter. Why would the milk preferentially stick to the lining as opposed to just mixing with the alcohol? And would milk line the lower intestine?

Since the discovery of H-Pylori causing ulcers a lot of the milk lining the gut to treat ulcers has been discredited.

Looking for the effects of milk consumption, alcohol absorption and gastric emptying is turning out to be time consuming so I'll stop here.