You might be hungover right now.
If you had too many drinks last night (and well into this morning) and are now vowing to give up the grog in 2025, you wouldn't be the only one.
While New Year's Eve sees a spike in drinking across the nation, 2 per cent of Australians are planning on giving up drinking in 2025, according to comparison site Finder's new survey.
Separately, 62 per cent of Australians over 25 years old said they feel more empowered to not drink alcohol these days compared to ten years ago, according to not-for-profit organisation DrinkWise.
It's understandable why.
Classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a level one carcinogen, the damage alcohol causes is well documented.
According to WHO estimates, alcohol consumption contributed to 3 million deaths in 2016 globally. Alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of multiple health conditions, including alcohol dependence and liver cirrhosis. It's also casually linked to several types of cancers.
But what about the short-term effects of alcohol?
While scientists haven't figured out exactly what's going on when we're hungover, there are a few running theories.
We're thirsty, nauseous, tired, sporting a killer headache, and might even be dealing with overwhelming 'hangxiety' — that feeling of anxiety or stress that occurs after drinking alcohol.
But why?
Here's what's actually happening to our bodies when we're hungover.
You're dehydrated
Alcohol has a diuretic effect, which means you need to urinate more often. If all you consumed the night before was alcohol, then you'll become dehydrated pretty quickly.
As a result, when you wake up after a night of drinking, you'll likely be thirsty, fatigued, and have a headache.
Steve Allsop, a professor at the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, highlights that while water won't cure your hangover, it will help prevent dehydration, which might make you feel marginally less bad.
You're anxious
Your hangover might involve some dreaded 'hangxiety'. Some reports estimate anxiety during a hangover affects 12 per cent of people, according to an article from The Conversation by Craig Gunn, a lecturer in psychological science at the University of Bristol in England.
after drinking because alcohol affects the immune system and increases blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol levels, known as the stress hormone.
Other research shows your production of dopamine is lower during a hangover, making it more difficult to regulate anxiety.
Throw in some stress and sleep deprivation, and you're in for low moods and a very anxious morning.
Your liver function changes
Elizabeth Powell is a professor at the School of Medicine at The University of Queensland where she leads a research program in chronic liver disease.
She said alcohol can affect many organs in the body, especially the liver. This is because it's where alcohol is metabolised.
"The liver is a very important organ that's responsible for making a lot of the proteins in the body and getting rid of toxins. So if it's having to deal with a lot of alcohol, that can impact how the liver is functioning," Powell said.
"Alcohol is metabolised in the liver and everybody who drinks harmful levels of alcohol eventually gets a fatty liver.
"When alcohol is metabolised, it can lead to deposition of fat in the liver. In some people, drinking alcohol can lead to inflammation and scarring in the liver."
You'll have gut problems like nausea and vomiting
Ever spent a morning after a big night vomiting over a toilet bowl?
Hal Sosabowski, professor of public understanding of science at the University of Brighton in England, said we feel sick because of high ethanol levels.
"As you drink and become more euphoric, your blood ethanol level is being monitored by the area postrema, the part of your brain which checks your blood for things that shouldn't be there," he wrote in The Conversation.
"The postrema works to very fine tolerances, and as soon as your body contains enough ethanol, and the threshold that nature has set is reached, the postrema instructs your stomach to contract and makes you sick."
Powell said drinking can "lead to some inflammation in the stomach, which makes you feel nauseous and affects your appetite".
Your sleep is compromised
Even though you might pass out as soon as you hit the pillow on your bed, the quality of your sleep won't be too great.
Allsop said alcohol is a soporific, which means it tends to cause sleepiness and lethargy and dulls your awareness. But it also means your sleep is fragmented and lower quality with little rapid eye movement sleep, so you won't wake up feeling refreshed.
Inflammatory responses make you feel even worse
Alcohol triggers an inflammatory response in the body which can make your hangover feel even worse.
"It releases chemicals called cytokines that promote inflammation, which helps fight off infections or injuries," Athalie Redwood-Brown, senior lecturer in performance analysis of sport and Jen Wilson, senior exercise and health practitioner from Nottingham Trent University, wrote in The Conversation.
"However, in the case of a hangover, this inflammation can worsen symptoms such as headaches, muscle aches, fatigue and sensitivity to light and sound," they said. "The body's heightened immune response amplifies these discomforts, making the hangover feel more intense."
Unfortunately, there's no mythical hangover cure. But lots of water and nutritious food might help make it less painful. Source: Getty / Grace Cary
Is there a hangover cure?
Tempted to douse yourself in fast food or try a heralded hangover 'cure' in the hopes of fixing all your problems?
Then look away because there is no mythical hangover cure.
However, there are some things you can do to make the experience more bearable.
Powell said a healthy diet with plenty of water is the best course of action, especially as you're likely dehydrated. She recommends the Mediterranean-style diet with fresh fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts.
It's also important to reduce any unhealthy saturated fats after a big drinking session, so maybe think twice about that Macca's run.
Some other studies have found prickly pear, commonly found in Korean pear juice 'hangover cures' may reduce inflammatory responses associated with hangovers.
However, Powell cautions against anything that brands itself as a hangover cure.
"I'd be very cautious about some of the hangover cures, particularly that involve herbal preparations or over-the-counter cures where it's sometimes not clear exactly what the components of those cures or herbal preparations are."
This is because some herbal components can cause further liver injury on top of alcohol.
So the best you might be able to do is take steps to make it more bearable.
"Unfortunately, the only cure is abstinence," Powell said.
