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Topics: Alcohol, Health, Food and Drink, TikTok, Science
Ella Scott
Topics: Alcohol, Health, Food and Drink, TikTok, Science
A medical practitioner has revealed the one food they believe you should eat before drinking alcohol, claiming it could help ease hangover symptoms the next day.
The fabled hangover cure: some say it’s tucking into a well-balanced breakfast after exercise, while others swear by a ‘game-changing’ $1 hangover pill called Myrkl.
However, one doctor claims you could avoid feeling awful the next day altogether by snacking on a popular dairy product.
“If you are going for a night out on the and town and you’re going to drink alcohol, eating cheese before drinking alcohol can decrease your risk of having a hangover,” says Dr Neena Chandrasekaran, an expert who specialises in lung health and critical care.
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The content creator, who goes by the handle Neenziemd on TikTok, took to the platform to claim cheese has a lot of protein and complex carbs that can help coat your stomach, thus decreasing the absorption of alcohol.
“Cheese can help the body metabolize alcohol better and prevent liver damage,” Dr Chandrasekaran continued.
“Cheese also replenishes nutrients because it is full of B Vitamin and Calcium.”
The social media star said that these specific nutrients are depleted from the body when drinking and that the latter can help to improve muscle functions.
However, Dr Chandrasekaran has also used her TikTok platform to send a word of warning to those gearing up to consume cans and cocktails over the weekend, remarking that no alcohol is better than some.
“If you are going to drink try to remember to try some cheese,” she added.
Thousands of viewers have since flocked to the expert’s video to have their say, with one remarking: “I love cheese- charcuterie before debauchery folks.”
A second commented: “After 40yrs of drinking alcohol, I discovered that not drinking alcohol is the best way to avoid a hangover & and embarrassing behavior.”
“That’s why I always go for pizza instinctively before drinking,” replied someone else, while a fourth joked: “Dutch people crying of happiness rn.”
Interestingly, Dr Chandrasekaran’s cheesy advice has been challenged by another popular health expert.
NHS GP Dr. Karan Rajan, who boasts 5.3 million followers on TikTok, has claimed that lining your stomach to form a physical barrier before drinking alcohol to get less drunk is misinformation.
This is because most alcohol is ‘absorbed in your small intestine.'
However, he did explain that it’s possible to slow down the digestion process more generally and the 'GI transit time'.
To do so, Dr Rajan advised people to eat meals high in fat, protein and fibre if they want to slow down the rate of alcohol absorption.
"[These nutrients] delays alcohol's entry into the small intestine, which means it's absorbed more gradually in the bloodstream.
“So, you get less spikes in the blood alcohol concentration and you get drunk much slower.”
Dr Raj also said this is why drinking alcohol with zero calorie mixes gets us drunk faster than their full-fat, full-sugar counterparts.
He added: "The sugar and calories stimulate the release of digestive hormones like gastrin which slow down digestion and the absorption of alcohol."
The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that adults of legal drinking age (21 years or older) shouldn’t have more than one drink per day if they’re a woman, and no more than two drinks if they’re a man.
The guidelines also state that drinking less is better for health than drinking more.