With the festive season comes late nights, endless mince tarts and more booze than your can shake a stick at.
And as any hardened drinker knows too well – this can lead to several mammoth hangovers to look forward to.
But now researchers believe they may have come up with a way to blitz that banging headache once and for all – and there’s not a Bloody Mary in sight.
According to two new animal studies, which were conducted by the University of Louisville and the University of Houston, the brains of rats and mice they gave alcohol to were “substantially different” after exercising – compared to those of rodents who didn’t.
This has led them to believe that light exercise – such as jogging or a brisk walk – could substantially improve the negative effects of alcohol consumption.
Time to get rid of that hangover, once and for all
Studies on animals suggest that drinking alcohol reduces the number of neurons in the hippocampus – the brain’s memory centre. It also weakens mitochondria – the brain of cells – in the same area.
And because mitochondria help produce energy for cells, their impairment and weakening can damage or kill off brain cells entirely.
But exercise – it turns out – can help stave off some of the detrimental affects of drinking.
Exercising after heavy drinking is not a way to cancel out the damage done, experts warn, but it is a way to help the brain recover from a night on the lash.
You can read the New York Times on this study here.
