Carbonated Water Against A Hangover ?!

Author: Joe Fowler Time for reading: ~2 minutes Last Updated: January 27, 2026

It helps after drinking too much alcohol, but a hangover damages the immune system.

Cabbage juice, strong coffee, cold showers and special pills fight the hangover of those who are unreasonably overdose with alcohol. These drugs are widely known even among people who do not drink alcohol or consume it in moderation. However, for emergencies, Chinese scientists recommend the use of a tool available almost anywhere in the world - carbonated water .

Weisalgia is the medical term behind the combination of unpleasant and unwanted physiological and psychological effects of alcohol overdose - hangover . Severe discomfort caused by unreasonable amounts of alcohol consumed can last over 24 hours and includes symptoms such as headache, dizziness, impaired concentration, gastrointestinal problems, sweating, dizziness, irritability and more.

A common misconception is that most of these symptoms are due only to severe dehydration - alcohol dehydration . Hangover has a strong negative effect on the immune system , slows glucose metabolism and disrupts the synthesis of prostaglandins - lipid compounds responsible for controlling the contraction and relaxation of smooth muscle throughout the body. This indirectly increases the load on the heart muscle , worsens sleep disorders and vasodilation - the relaxation of blood vessels.

After consuming alcoholic beverages, ethanol is metabolized in them - it is broken down by the body to acetaldehyde by an enzyme - a molecule that accelerates biochemical processes, called alcohol dehydrogenase . Aldehyde dehydrogenase is another enzyme that converts the resulting acetaldehyde to acetate .

Scientists believe that it is not ethanol but acetaldehyde that is the main culprit for the harmful effects of alcohol. If this molecule is restricted or degraded before it harms the body, the effects of weisalgia can be quickly stopped.

Chinese researchers, led by Dr. Hua-Bin Li, are experimenting with various compounds, herbs, foods and beverages in order to discover how to quickly and without side effects reduce the concentration of acetaldehyde in the body. After testing more than 50 different assumptions, they proceeded to study a number of popular carbonated beverages.

It turns out that carbonated water and other carbonated beverages without artificial sweeteners or sugar , in fact, can be used successfully to counteract the already existing weisalgia, because they significantly increase the activity of the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase . With this increased enzyme activity, the body converts larger amounts of acetaldehyde into acetate, quickly alleviating the detrimental effect of its large amounts on the exhausted body.

Edard Ernst from the University of Exeter told Chemistry World that this is another example of a basic principle in pharmacology - any substance or group of substances can have both negative and positive sides.

In their study, Chinese scientists recommend drinking 1-2 medium carbonated drinks within half an hour, and this should be done in combination with a moderate intake of fresh water to avoid further dehydration. However, scientists mostly recommend the consumption of alcohol in moderation.

Carbonated Water Against A Hangover ?!

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