Being a college student at a large university, many of us have heard about or seen the effects alcohol can have on individuals. Many have probably even seen the effects it has had on themselves. Take a walk down College Ave on a Saturday night or walk past Canyon Pizza and you’ll see what I’m talking about. No one really questions what is happening to their brain or body, they just let it happen. I’m writing this blog to discover what is actually happening inside of an individual once they are experiencing a drunk state.
Last weekend, Onward State published an article with statistics from a Saturday night at Canyon Pizza. The author sat outside, soberly, for two and a half hours tally
ing many different things. Some of the most intruiging statistics that I found in the article were 746 total slices of pizza purchased(!!!), 20 people who drunkenly interacted with this author, and people who tried to enter through the exit (11). This raised one main question for me that I had previously not even considered: Why does alcohol make you hungry?
In the first article I read addressing this issue, it listed three factors as to why alcohol makes you hungry: inhibitions, science, and blood pressure. The explanation behind inhibitions basically said how this is a reason that people drink alcohol–to reduce their stress and anxiety–and then it will reduce the guilt someone feels after consuming that McDonalds or Canyon. The explanation for science was that the alcohol is stimulating the hypothalamus which deals with hunger. So by stimulating the hypothalamus, you’re getting hungry when you usually wouldn’t. The final explanation was that since alcohol is considered a “poison”, you’re body is working to get rid of it, which along the way reduces your blood pressure which tends to result in a “sudden carb craving”.
This article answered some of my questions, but I wanted more information. Alcohol has calories so why doesn’t that satisfy the need? In the next article I found, doctors addressed this and conducted experiments that showed people who ingested alcohol would end up feeling more hungry. The conclusion that they came up with was that alcohol directly interferes with appetite control in your brain. Food actually looks more appealing.
I still am lost as to how this is possible, but I do agree that it is true. I wish there was a way to reverse this, but for now, people will continue to drunk eat and wait in 20 minute lines for Canyon Pizza. Enjoy!
This is such an interesting topic to write about. I always just figured that people got tired and bored so they started eating. I had no idea there was an actual scientific reasoning for why people drunk eat.
This makes so much sense now! I never knew the science of drunk eating and now it makes sense. I wonder if this is the same for those who smoke marijuana and get the munchies? Very interesting and informational, thank you for sharing, I hope it doesn’t lead me to gaining weigh when I decide to drink!