Happy Fourth of July! It’s time to celebrate, have fun, and do what this holiday is made for: having a beer with friends and family while we enjoy our freedom. If you go a little overboard, don’t worry. We’ve all been there — no judgement from us! That’s why we at IV Revival are giving you a little-known hangover relief tip — glutathione.
What is Glutathione?
Glutathione’s major role is to function as an antioxidant. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals produced as a by-product of metabolism. Overindulgence in food and drink increases the number of free radicals.
Think of free radicals as exhaust fumes. It’s normal for cars to produce fumes as they use up fuel. When you push the car to go faster, it naturally uses up more fuel and produces more fumes.
The problem with free radicals is that they are highly charged particles that react with your cells causing inflammation. And inflammation is the root problem in many hangover symptoms and diseases.
But what does this have to do with hangovers? Everything.
Is Glutathione Good for Hangovers?
To see whether glutathione is good for hangovers or not, we first need to go over how alcohol affects your body.
Firstly, alcohol is a diuretic. It makes you lose water faster by making you need to use the bathroom, vomit, sweat, etc. Secondly, it affects your quality of sleep and thirdly, it causes inflammation.
So to go down the list, glutathione isn’t really going to help with keeping your hydrated or improve your sleep. But inflammation? Bingo.
Inflammation is a major cause of a hangover. Your liver breaks down alcohol to produce toxic by-products such as acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde breaks down to form free radicals that react with your cells causing inflammation. These cause the inflammation that makes your body ache, from head to toe.
The good news is that every cell in your body is capable of producing glutathione, however the main production of it happens in your liver. So you should already have some in your body to help you fight off your hangover, but a little extra could help you feel better, faster.
The problem with glutathione is that it’s broken down into amino acids in your gut. That means it’s not always as effective at treating inflammation when you eat it in food, or take a supplement. That’s where we come in. At IV Revival, we use IVs to deliver glutathione directly into your bloodstream. This allows it to attack the free radicals nearly immediately and provide hangover relief within minutes.
Book an appointment today and our nurses will come to you! You don’t even need to leave your home.
Is Glutathione Involved in Alcohol Metabolism?
There is a myth going around that glutathione helps your body metabolize alcohol. As much as we wish it were true, it simply is not. It is only an antioxidant — the mother of all antioxidants — but it does not aid in the digestive process. As we mentioned above, it’s actually quite difficult for your stomach to digest by breaking it down into its base three amino acids — cysteine, glutamic acid, and glycine.
The Ultimate Relief? Glutathione Plus a Hydrating IV
There isn’t one magical way to get rid of a hangover, but we can help treat two causes of it: dehydration and inflammation. Glutathione will tackle the inflammation, while our hydrating IV fluids will help put water and electrolytes back into your system.
As mentioned above, alcohol is diuretic. So to combat the loss of fluids, you’re going to need to drink water. But sometimes water isn’t enough to cover it, especially if you have a bad hangover. Your body is telling you that it needs electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium) and vitamins. You can reach over and grab a sports drink, but the sugar in it will not help with your dehydration. Downing both a sports drink and a bottle of water may not sound that appealing to you either. You may be nauseous while hungover too, which makes it difficult to keep anything down.
That’s why we’re here for you. You had fun and we’re never going to judge you for it. Instead, our registered nurses will be right over to give you an IV of pH-balanced fluids, electrolytes, and glutathione to help you get back on your feet. Book an appointment online or give us a call today at 602-755-9525.