Kubed
Well-Known Member
mrfocus said:You know what guys, I think I may have found out why the hangovers are so wicked: Acetaldehyde!
I was just reading this page on wikipedia. I followed the link it cited as reference, which led me to this story. A quote:
Is it possible that by adding too much oxygen into the must, by which the yeast doesn't use enough during it's reproduction, the leftover is kept in the must until the yeast goes onto this second phase and starts re transforming our precious alcohol into nasty Acetaldehyde? Any bio/chemists around here want to give their opinion?
Your kinda correct, but thinking about the wrong creature. This is the right process, but it's happening in us! Under normal metabolism, ethanol is broken down in the liver by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase to acetaldehyde, which is then converted by the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase to the harmless acetic acid.
Acetaldehyde is nasty, nasty stuff and a major cause of severe hangoversthat can last 30 minutes up to several hours. Symptoms include flushing of the skin, accelerated heart rate, shortness of breath, nausea, and vomiting.
BTW: when someone is having a problem quitting drinking, and they need negative behavioral reenforcements, we write for disulfiram (antabuse). Antabuse blocks acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and prevents it from converting acetaldehyde into acetic acid. As a result, when someone drinks the levels of acetaldehyde jumps and the person gets really, really sick. Usually they can't even finish 1 beer.