Scientists reveal how long it takes the body to recover from a night of drinking and what you should NEVER do the next morning

Many Brits today will have a headache after a drunken night in the new year.

But since the holiday falls in the middle of the week this year, there is little time to recover, and many return to work within 48 hours.

So, will your mind and body have remedied the effects of alcohol by then?

Speaking to MailOnline, experts have revealed exactly how long it takes for the brain and body to return to normal balance in the average person, and offered tips to speed up the process.

Surprisingly, the remedies you normally use have not been proven to make you feel better, scientists say.

For example, coffee can dehydrate you further, prolonging dreaded symptoms like headaches and nausea, while taking painkillers can worsen stress on the liver, increasing the risk of permanent damage.

But an activity that is commonly mistaken for beneficial could actually be seriously harmful, potentially even causing a fatal heart attack.

According to experts at Medical News Today, exercising while hungover could cause a sudden collapse and trigger abnormal heart rhythms, known as arrhythmia.

This is because alcohol can slow electrical signals in the organ, as it calms the nervous system.

However, a burst of exercise the day after drinking can rapidly increase the heartbeat, causing the signals to falter and fall into an abnormal rhythm.

According to studies, this dramatically increases the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

The chances of experiencing an abnormal heart rhythm after drinking alcohol “increase significantly” during exercise for up to two days after heavy drinking, according to a report reviewed by a registered dietitian and diabetes expert. ImashiFernando.

Meanwhile, the combination of falling blood sugar and dehydration can lead to a phenomenon known as exercise-related collapse.

The problem can cause people to feel dizzy and faint while doing physical activities and, in the worst case, lose consciousness.

So how long does it take before last night’s alcohol leaves your system?

Dr. Hussain Ahmad, Consultant Physician of Click2pharmacytold MailOnlijne that if you drink just one drink, the body processes it in two or three hours.

“However, various alcoholic beverages slow down how quickly the body can metabolize and eliminate them, and it can take up to 12 hours to completely leave the bloodstream,” he said.

But even after it leaves the bloodstream, it travels to other body systems, which can take days to expel the toxin.

Eating a big Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner can make you feel less drunk because it absorbs some of the alcohol, slowing its release into your bloodstream.

However, a large meal could mean that it takes longer to recover from the impending hangover.

“Although it is often recommended to accompany alcohol with food, food can slow down how quickly the body metabolizes alcohol, meaning it takes longer to leave the body,” Dr. Ahmad said.

Clifford Stephan, a nutritional scientist and founder of the sobriety support site Booze Vacation, said that while eating a large meal may make you feel less drunk, “that’s not going to help you the next day.”

Once the alcohol leaves your bloodstream, your blood vessels, which constrict when you get drunk and raise your blood pressure, return to their normal size.

“Once the liver has filtered alcohol from the blood, it can begin to return to its other functions,” explained Rachael Richardson, dietitian and founder of Nutritionhe previously told DailyMail.com. This includes digestion and the metabolism of vitamins and minerals.

However, the alcohol will still be in the body as it travels from the bloodstream to the digestive system.

And at 12 o’clock is when the hangover arrives.

Dopamine, the brain’s feel-good hormone, begins to drop to unusually low levels, which can cause persistent sadness.

You will also feel dehydrated because alcohol is a diuretic, a substance that blocks the signals sent by the brain to the kidneys, telling them to retain water. This causes fluids to flow faster through the bladder.

While you are still drunk, this will make you go to the bathroom more. And when you’re hungover, you’re dehydrated.

Stomach problems are common for about two days while the alcohol remains in the intestine.

Alcohol can hinder the gut microbiome, a network of bacteria that live in the digestive tract and help us fight infections and regulate appetite.

But alcohol can destroy good bacteria and feed bad bacteria.

This growth of bad bacteria causes stomach pain, constipation, and high heartburn for several days.

Stephan suggests avoiding caffeine first thing in the morning to prevent those effects from getting worse.

“Many people will drink coffee to try to start their day, but coffee can be harsh on the already irritated stomach lining and dehydrate you even more,” he said.

He recommends opting for lemon water with sea salt to replenish lost electrolytes, essential vitamins that are lost during dehydration.

And even if your head hurts, consider avoiding acetaminophen and ibuprofen. “Your liver has just taken a hard hit, detoxifying the alcohol from your system, and piling on common painkillers the next day (which are also detoxified in your liver) will only aggravate the injury,” Mr. Stephan said.

About two days after stopping drinking, the alcohol has been completely removed from the body, causing the bloodstream to completely return to normal.

And after a day, the bowel movements return to normal.

Constipation, diarrhea and pain relieved. “The stomach acid reduces or returns to normal levels, the body begins to reset, all the acidity from the alcohol calms down and the stomach begins to return to normal,” Ms Richardson said.