Does Bread Soak Up Alcohol?
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Has a friend ever suggested you go grab a bagel and a coffee after a night out partying, claiming that “bread helps you sober up”? Sure, we’ve all heard of this supposed antidote to alcohol, but is it true? Does bread soak up alcohol?
In this article, we’ll investigate the interaction between bread and alcohol and discover how bread impacts alcohol absorption. First, we need to understand how alcohol impacts our system and dive into the science behind metabolism. Keep reading to find out how true these magical claims about bread really are!
Alcohol impacts the body head to toe (and everything in between). When we drink, the signals in our nerve pathways slow down, and our heart rate can drastically change. Our mood and behavior also change when we drink, and our thinking starts to slow — these are the effects we may recognize as being “drunk” or “intoxicated.”
Gut health is an important component to consider when consuming alcoholic beverages. How is our gut microbiome altered by alcohol, and how should we care for our gut before and after drinking? The three major macronutrients — carbohydrates, protein, and fats — are the building blocks of all food (including alcohol), and they are all vital for recovery after a night out drinking.
How does our metabolism break down these culinary building blocks, and where does alcohol fit into the picture?
While alcohol itself is not a carbohydrate, we often consume lots of carbohydrates when we drink. For instance, most wine contains carbohydrates; beer is almost entirely carbohydrates, and any sugary drink mixer starts adding up as well. Eating bread or toast while drinking (or after) contributes to this carb overload. While this isn’t necessarily bad, it can be for some of us!
Alcohol is not a protein, and alcoholic drinks generally do not contain any protein. Alcohol depletes the body’s amino acids, so protein must be replenished for a full recovery. Bread contains a small amount of protein called gluten, although not enough to meet the body’s nutritional needs on its own.
Alcohol generally doesn’t contain fat (except in drinks with added milk or cream). Healthy fats are important for joint health and blood sugar regulation, and should be consumed as we recover from a night of drinking. The important part is sticking with healthy unsaturated fats rather than loading up on processed comfort foods.
Bread is a high-carbohydrate food that comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. Many of us have a favorite bread-based dish, from bagels, jelly and toast, sandwiches, warm buttermilk biscuits, or hearty deli sandwiches. Bread is a staple food because of its generally cheap ingredients and stomach-filling nature.
In fact, it’s so important to culinary anthropology that bread has historically been heavily regulated all the way back to the Roman Empire when laws determined a loaf’s contents, weight, size, and price. But does bread really have an impact on alcohol metabolism?
Alcohol enters the bloodstream through the gastrointestinal tract, where it travels throughout our body. Almost immediately, the liver sends out enzymes to begin breaking down ethanol — the pure form of alcohol responsible for intoxicating effects. As the liver breaks down alcohol, it produces a toxic compound called acetaldehyde, the gnarly chemical responsible for that icky-all-over unpleasant feeling during a hangover.
While bread does slow the rate of alcohol absorption in the bloodstream, it doesn’t make alcohol less potent. Bread also doesn’t decrease the amount of alcohol absorbed into the bloodstream — all the alcohol we drink still makes its way into our bodily systems. This change in absorption rate, however, can make alcohol feel a little weaker, and different breads can have different effects when it comes to slowing down alcohol absorption.
So we know that bread can reduce the effects of alcohol slightly, but can it actually reverse them? Does bread help us sober up?
Bread as a sober-up-quick scheme is more of a myth than a reality. As we saw above, bread doesn’t contribute to a decrease in our blood alcohol content (BAC), so where did this myth come from?
Though bread doesn’t make us sober up faster, its slowdown effect on the metabolism process means that the toxic by-products of alcohol metabolism (like acetaldehyde) are produced more slowly, which flattens the spike in hangover symptoms and allows our body to have a more steady recovery period. Depending on the type of bread product consumed, it can also be rich in macronutrients, which are important to replenish after drinking.
Alcohol is a depressant, a “downer” on our nervous system, meaning it slows our brain function and body systems and causes drowsiness. Nervous system depressants are known to cause fluctuations in blood sugar levels, and alcohol does just that.
Fiber — an important component of carbohydrates — can come in large numbers when we consume whole grain or sprouted grain bread. After drinking, eating these types of bread will help us restore our fiber and blood sugar levels as our body gets rid of the toxins.
Bread can be an excellent choice when it comes to easing a hangover. No magic pill will fix a hangover immediately, but steps can be taken to minimize the symptoms and get back to our best self. Let’s look at the building blocks of a solid bread-based hangover meal that will check all the nutrient boxes: a sandwich.
If you aren’t feeling up to a sandwich or don’t have the stomach for solid foods, there are plenty of other healthy food choices to aid hangover recovery.
While it might not be easy, the best way to sober up safely is to give yourself time to recover and get the alcohol out of your bloodstream. That being said, here are a few tips for sobering up safely:
Although no “cure-all” exists for the side effects of alcohol consumption (nor the dreaded hangover), bread can be a good recovery food after alcohol use by providing us with fiber and other nutrients depleted by alcohol. We can all benefit from knowing a few extra foods to help us restore our body to its healthy state!
1. Is bread good to eat after drinking alcohol?
Bread can be a good food to consume before, during, and after drinking alcohol. Whole grain and sprouted grain bread, in particular, are rich in fiber and other nutrients that can protect and repair our muscles, nervous system, and gut while using alcohol.
2. Does bread soak up alcohol?
While bread doesn’t soak up alcohol and get rid of it, bread does slow the absorption process of alcohol into the bloodstream. We may feel like bread is absorbing and consuming the alcohol because of this, but in reality, our blood alcohol level is just taking longer to rise because the bread is slowing the absorption of alcohol.
3. Does bread sober you up?
Time is the best asset when it comes to sobering up, but bread can replenish lost nutrients as our body recovers from our drinking alcohol. It’s also important to drink water and electrolytes while eating food and trying to sober up.
4. Does bread cure hangovers?
Bread is a good option to keep in mind when considering what to eat during a hangover, but be sure to add other ingredients like healthy fats and proteins to replenish all macronutrients. No “cure” for hangovers actually exists — all you need is time!
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