14 DAY TRIAL // More often than not, people work on the assumption that alcohol tends to cloud people's minds, which is why it is best to keep away from it as often as possible.
However, a new research claims that, contrary to popular belief, heavy drinkers are likely to experience both an energy boost and an increase in the speed at which they can process various information whenever indulging in one too many sips of alcohol-based beverages.
The scientists who pieced together this research concerning the effects that a high alcohol intake has on people explain that the brains of most individuals run on sugar, which acts as its fuel.
However, heavy drinkers (i.e. people who gulp down as least 8 alcoholic drinks per week) manage to access another energy source and use it to power their brains.
This alternative fuel for the human brain is acetate, which happens to be a by-product of alcohol metabolism and which is well known for being rather energy-rich, sources explain.
As several laboratory-based experiments have shown, the brains of heavy drinkers absorb and burn acetate almost twice as fast as the brains of light drinkers or teetotalers, precisely because they see it as an energy source.
Researchers speculate that those who find it difficult to quit drinking alcohol after getting used to ingesting significant amounts of it only have these problems because what they are in fact doing is trying to rid their brains of the habit on running on acetate.
It is the scientists’ belief that, following their reaching the conclusion that the brains of heavy drinkers and those of teetotalers are trained to get their energy from completely different sources, it will be easier to find means of easing the withdrawal symptoms of those who decide that they wish to quit alcohol.
Thus, they speculate that their being given acetate might help ease their transition towards making their brain work on sugar.