Election night hangover? Should have counted votes AND drinks

by Chris Mikesell

chris mikesell / KA LAMAKUA

If you’re a Hawaii Democrat (or a Republican most anywhere else), chances are last night you had the best kind of political party: the kind with lots of cheering and catered food, where you’re more likely to hear fill ‘em up than filibuster.

But now it’s the morning after. The day after. The eye-melting headaches only add insult to the injury of waking up with red, white and blue confetti stuck to your forehead.  What’s an election night partier filled with regret to do?

For starters, you can make sure that next time you alternate your drinks with water. Joannie Dobbs, a clinical nutrition specialist at UHM’s CTAHR department, says that hangovers are thought to be caused by the dehydrating effect alcohol has on the body, so it pays in the long run to keep your cup topped off with water.

The best way to make sure you don’t kick yourself in the morning is to make sure you don’t overdo it. But according to Glenda Duldulao, director of the Manoa Alcohol project, overdoing it means different things for men and women.

courtesy

MANOA ALCOHOL PROJECT

“Healthy men up to age 65 should have no more than four standard drinks in a day,” says Duldulao. For women, she recommends a limit of three.

But the measure of a “standard drink,” she says, is different depending on the booze.

The general rule is that the harder the drink, the smaller the standard. That means a 1.5 ounce shot of hard liquor, five ounces of wine, 8.5 ounces of malt liquor, or a 12 ounce bottle of malt cooler can all be counted as a standard drink. Counting can be tricky, though, for students who get mixed drinks at their mixers.

“What’s tricky about this is that when we say ‘standard drink’ we don’t really know what it is. A lot of college students drink out of cups or they do mixed drinks.”