Just imagine the following situation: Your best friends invites you to his party and you decide to drive by car. Since it's your best friends birthday he wants to have some fun with you and offers you some drinks. At first you deny the drinks because you came by car but after he asked you with sparkling eyes to celebrate you take a sip. Drink and drive is an absolut "no go" and you know that! You decided to go home on foot.
Unlucky enough you forgot your coat at home and outside we have -10 degrees Celsius. You came up with the idea to have one or two more drinks before leaving the bash. Why? Because you know that alcohol makes you warm!
What do you think Steemians? Is it true that alcohol makes you warm and helps you to fight cold temperatures or is this just another fictional story I told you?
Put your glas away and lets find out!
What is alcohol and why makes it you feel warm?
Fig.1/2 Chemical structure of Ethanol Source
First of all we need to know what we actually have in our drinks. There are lots of different types of alcohol, however the drinking alcohol is called Ethanol.
This is important to know since other types of alcohol can be very harmful to the human body. Adulterated alcohol often contains Methanol which, in worst case, can make you blind or even kill you.
Those of you who occasionally have a drink or two know that alcohol can affect your body in several ways. In today's article we will focus on the temperature sensation. It is true that alcohol makes you feel warm. Ethanol acts as a vasodilator, which means it makes your blood vessels dilate. What happens is that the blood moves from your body's core to the surface of your skin. When this happens your capillaries widen and the warmth of your body move from inside out, leaving you with the sensation of warmth. Since our skin has tons of receptors you will perceive rising temperatures. People who drink usually have red flushed cheeks indicating they are warm and more blood flows through their skin.
Dangerous misconception
We found out that alcohol makes you feel warmer. What I didn't tell you so far is that actually the exact opposite happens to your body! When your body moves the blood from the core to the skin it also moves the warmth from inside out. This is a process that happens on hot days! It helps to cool down your body since you don't need unnecessary warmth inside your body. As your skin's thermorezeptors interpret the heat from your blood your body starts to sweat. Sweating is just another mechanism of your body to cool down. This is very dangerous because in reality your core temperature decreases! On top of that comes that your body does not shiver! There are cases where people died of hypothermia because their body were not able to prevent them from cooling. Actually the human body constricts blood vessels in order to prevent losing heat – not the opposite!
Remember these cute looking dogs? These are St. Bernard dogs and known for their alpine rescues. Often they are displayed in cartoons with barrels around their neck that contain alcohol. So should you be in the unlucky situation where a Bernard needs to rescue, I recommend you to not drink any of its booze.
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Myth or Fact? #25 - Bats are blind
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Myth or Fact? #22 - You have to wait an hour to swim after eating
Myth or Fact? #21 - Stretching before exercise is dangerous
Myth or Fact? #20 – A Penny dropped off the Empire State Building kills you
Myth or Fact? #19 – Cold weather makes you catch a cold
Myth or Fact? #18 – Hair and nails keep growing after death
Myth or Fact? #17 – Cockroaches can survive a nuclear catastrophe
Myth or Fact? #16 – Skin on heated milk is dangerous
Myth or Fact? #15 - Survive a falling elevator by jumping up as it hits the floor
Myth or Fact? #14 - Mosquitoes prefer people with sweet blood
Myth or Fact? #13 - Does Santa Claus exist? 🎅
Myth or Fact? #12 - Acid and Base saves Life
Myth or Fact? #11 – Glass is a liquid
Myth or Fact? #10 – During summer the Eiffel Tower is taller
Myth or Fact? #9 - Hot water freezes faster than cold water
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Myth or Fact? #5 – Does drinking distilled water kill you?
Myth or Fact? #4 - We only use 10% of our Brain
Myth or Fact? #3 - Is it colder during Winter because the Sun is further?
Myth or Fact? #2- The world's most famous equation: E=mc²
Myth or Fact? #1 - The Five Second Rule
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Tim
I tell this to all my friends who visit high altitude areas to avoid alcohol! Glad you made this post and now I can share this with them!
Never underestimate. Glad you share it :)
I use to live in Denver ... I know what your talking about 😂😂😂
so did I, I used to frequent Rockbottoms brewery and Tommy Knockers in Golden :)
@stackin haha! :D
We live up in the mountains and we always tell people visiting to avoid alcohol.
thats a good thing you are doing
Yes indeed this article is good .
I remember that I used to drink ice cold beer at the beach trying to refresh myself but after I found out that our body does not work asnI thought. I was not surprise later when someone offered me hot tea in summer. It worked way better :)
Thanks Tim for all your work and passion here.
We live in Canada and it can get pretty chilly up here and lots of people snowmobile and get stuck on trails, after having a few drink and like you said die of hypothermia. I am a strong advocate of no drinking and driving on snowmachines. Thanks for the science behind why.
Thank you! I hope people listen
who is it? Phill Colins maybe?
lol naw man that's the original ghost buster Bill Murray smh 🤦♂️ he a legend
Thanks, don't drink much alcohol but good to know on a freezing day!
Thanks Tim. I drank half a bottle of whiskey in November, went out in a T-Shirt and felt fine. I genuinely thought it warms you up. You may save lives with this post.
On another note, drinking gives you mad dancing skills. I met my wife like this.
Thanks for all the votes. Don't let this comment distract you from the fact you must still wear a coat and drink whiskey outside in winter.
Wow, who would've thought! I know the majority of people think it warms you up because that's how it makes them feel but its good to see a study that contradicts that and actually explains what's going on. Thanks for the info! :)
That's Myth or Fact :)
I think it changes from body to body.
good posting
^^^UPVOTE^^^
haha even it gives more confidence than any other drink, people become more talkative , they even speak other languages fluently , this is the power of alcohal hahahaha
I love alcohol ! Since I do agree alcohol could make me warm that we will be excited and our blood will flow faster. Also alcohol could make my day. Hah. Drinking some everyday make us look younger and happier.
nice post, thanks for sharing
Great information! Thanks a bunch for sharing.
This has the potential to save lives, if the people concerned read and have the discipline of not drinking too when they are outside in the cold. Being from Quebec City where the famous Winter Carnival is gathering hundreds of thousands in the streets and at different events every year, it is a fact I have had the chance of learning early on...
Namaste :)
I think alcohol just makes people forget that they are cold 😂😂😂
LoLx
I got jokes 😂😂
hahahah
Makes sense
😂😂😂
Because of too much alcohol in their brain not in stomach. 😂😂😂
This post deserve my up vote.
Please follow me @Yehey
That's what happen to me 😂🙌🏼
Hihihi :)
That too depends on how much you drink.
Where taking about some poundation 😂🍺🍻🍺🍸
Followed/upvoted. Cool blog! I think it's not the alcohol that makes you warm, but the blood in your body getting closer to your skin..or something like that lol
Eating big macs make you warm too lol this is because of the addictive sugars. Id hate to see some of the shit that is in these pre-mixed alcoholic cans that people drink these days.
How bad are they for you?
Another great article by Tim the Mythbuster
This post received a 2.1% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @timsaid! For more information, click here!
Congratulations @timsaid!
Your post was mentioned in my hit parade in the following categories:
Your body temperature isn't actually changing; you're just redistributing the heat, Your skin is inundated with sensory receptors keyed into temperature changes, so the blood redistribution that occurs when you drink alcohol sends a flood of messages to your brain saying, "It’s hot!"
Good basic science behind this post - you kept it simple and clear. Thanks @timsaid
That's what myth or fact stands for :)
you didn't mention "drink safely"! :D
very true
Thank You. I learned something new .
What?! i'm on way to the liquor store!
Great article.
I grew up in Canada's arctic and it was something we all learned way back.
Although it makes you feel warm it has an opposite effect.
Always good to read your articles!
.....as always upvoted and resteemed!
This, I did already know. It's the main reason why some homeless people (after drinking to much) die in the streets at night from hypothermia. It's one of the reasons why in The Netherlands, we have night shelters for the homeless.
Another fun thing about drinking a lot of alcohol, is that it prevents your muscles from acidificating. I really noticed this pretty well on nights where I, after a long night of going out, was riding my bicycle back home. I could keep going, without getting tired. Making the bikeride that under normal circumstances would take me around 25 minutes, only last for about 15 to 18 minutes.
Those days are well behind me though. Now I only drink a glass of rum once in a while ;-)
so if you drink alcohol in the summer it will cool you off?
i always feel warmer after taking shots of whisky/ vodka / tequila
Very informative and interesting!
thank you for sharing this. People needs to understand that being warm and feeling warm are 2 different things. there are a lot of people who still believes alcohol keeps you warm.
10 glasses and u ll be on fire haha.
Btw interesting post dude.
Most people I know don't care about this. They drink to the point where their own health don't interest them anymore. I visit a lot of festivals in germany where it can get pretty cold at night. But the later and colder it gets the less do the people wear.
On the next day they feel bad and caught a cold or worse! Of course I know the warming effect of alcohol by myself. I try to drink slowly so the effect is not too strong. Most times it works!
At some village fairs, where the people are drinking a lot, you even see them sweating, only from drinking alcohol! That can't be healthy ;-)
I hope a lot of people will read your post. Having a warm sweater in your car or bag is always a good idea!
That's why I hate drinking, my face and ears get blood red when I have alcohol in my system.
It just stimulates the brain and makes them think they are cold. why do people have more sex after having alcohol?
People say it's bc your inhibitions are lowered but I personally believe it is bc alcohol turns on the pleasure center of the brain.
consume within the range....should get some benefit....but if too much then it might create problem..... :)
Alcohol and my body are not on good terms with each other, even at the least amount. I'm getting red flushed face and difficulty in breathing always so it's a no no for me. Thanks for sharing @timsaid!
I don't know about warm, but it sure makes you horny if you're not "drunk to stupo"..))))
This is the kind of posts I like to see. Random facts that help you create opinions about stuff and if applied correctly in the real world, you will make for interesting company in the bar. Very nice work. I am a person trying to create a community where we share theories and facts we all know and actually learn from each other. If you would check my account you would see I am new to this but I believe we can build this kind of community. I am more of a theory guy since my brain is all over the place, and as much facts I learn the better for making theories!
(for anyone interest in theories drop by) still this is pretty awesome dude, good job
at least it makes you do things...
:D
Yeah , that is fact. Everytime i'm freezing , when i drink 1 glass of red wine my body starts warming . So many people do it and it's really working :) :D Thank you for this info @elliciouss
good
Great post Tim! I already knew it was a myth but you explained the science behind it :D
Great that you knew :)
alcohol make the water go out of the cells thats why you pee and thats why you feel warm coz the body overheat coz the water is not accessible for the swet to be made
and by the water out after a while the krebs cycle in mithocodria will be stoped so no energy and no heet;alcohol will make you feel cold in the end
I always thought it was hot chocolate in the dog's thermos...
This looks like a great series you have.
I might have to drink alcohol instead of using the heating.
lol! No man, you didn't read :D
So no problems for the California...