Expert reveals exactly how long it takes for your body to return to normal after a full weekend of drinking – and it’s longer than you think

• Experts say it can take several days to recover from holiday drinking
• Eating a big meal can make you less drunk, but alcohol stays in the body longer
• READ MORE: This is what happens to your body after 30 days of quitting alcohol

Holiday season is officially underway. 

Thanksgiving marked the beginning of a season filled with big meals, late nights and, for most people, plenty of booze. 

And although the weekend is well and truly gone, some may still be feeling a little worse for wear. 

Others meanwhile will have bounced back almost instantly, ready for the new week ahead first thing Monday morning. 

So at what point do you fully recover after a heavy weekend of drinking? If we’re slow to start, is there something wrong with us? 

Speaking to DailyMail.com, experts have revealed exactly how long it takes the brain and body to return to normal equilibrium in the average person – and offered tips to speed up the process. 

Alcohol travels from the bloodstream to the digestive system before exiting the body, which can take two to three days

The long and short of it is: your body won’t be back to normal for at least two days, possibly even three. 

What’s more, loading up on food won’t stave off the hangover. 

Dr Hussain Ahmad, consultant doctor at Click2Pharmacy in the UK, told DailyMail.com that if you have just one drink, the body processes it within two to three hours. 

‘However, multiple alcoholic drinks slow how quickly your body can metabolize and pass it, and it can take up to 12 hours to completely leave your [bloodstream],’ he said. 

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

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

It can take up to three days for the body to return to normal functioning following a boozy weekend, experts say

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

‘Although food is often recommended to accompany alcohol, it can slow how quickly your body metabolizes alcohol, meaning it takes longer to leave your system,’ Dr Ahmad said.

Clifford Stephan, nutritional scientist and founder of sobriety support site Booze Vacation, told DailyMail.com that while eating a heavy meal could make you feel less drunk, ‘that is not going to help you the day after.’

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

‘Once the liver has filtered alcohol from the blood, it can start to return to its other functions,’ Rachael Richardson, dietitian and founder of Nutrolution, previously told DailyMail.com. This includes digestion and metabolizing vitamins and minerals.

READ MORE: How many alcoholic drinks you’d need to consume to gain exactly one pound of fat

A wellness influencer has calculated how much of your favorite drinks you can have before gaining a pound of body fat. 

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

And the 12-hour mark is when the hangover sets in. 

The feel-good brain hormone dopamine begins to drop to unusually low levels, which can cause lingering sadness. 

You’ll also feel dehydrated because alcohol is a diuretic, a substance that blocks the signals sent by the brain to the kidneys, which tell them to hold water. This makes fluids run faster through the bladder.

While you’re still drunk, it will make you have to take more trips to the bathroom. And when you’re hungover, you’re dehydrated.

Stomach issues are common for about two days while booze remains in the gut.  

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

But alcohol can destroy good bacteria while feeding bad bacteria.

This growth of bad bacteria leads to stomach pain, constipation, and high stomach acid for several days. 

Mr Stephan suggests avoiding caffeine first thing in the morning to avoid worsening those effects. 

‘A lot of people will reach for coffee to try to jump-start their day, but coffee can be rough on your already irritated stomach lining and will further dehydrate you,’ he said. 

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

And although your head might be pounding, consider skipping Tylenol and Ibuprofen. ‘Your liver just took a significant beating, detoxifying the alcohol out of your system, and piling on common pain relievers the day after (that are also detoxified in your liver) will only add insult to injury,’ Mr Stephan said.

The liver is also responsible for metabolizing drugs like acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol.

About two days after you stop drinking, alcohol has fully cleared from the body, which causes the bloodstream to return fully to normal. 

And within another day, bowel movements return to normal. Constipation, diarrhea, and pain ease. ‘The stomach acid reduces or comes back to normal levels, your body starts to reset, all of the acidity from all the alcohol sort of calms down, and your stomach starts to return to normal,’ Ms Richardson said. 

DO YOU DRINK TOO MUCH ALCOHOL? THE 10 QUESTIONS THAT REVEAL YOUR RISK

One screening tool used widely by medical professionals is the AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Tests). Developed in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, the 10-question test is considered to be the gold standard in helping to determine if someone has alcohol abuse problems.

The test has been reproduced here with permission from the WHO.

To complete it, answer each question and note down the corresponding score.

YOUR SCORE:

0-7: You are within the sensible drinking range and have a low risk of alcohol-related problems.

Over 8: Indicate harmful or hazardous drinking.

8-15: Medium level of risk. Drinking at your current level puts you at risk of developing problems with your health and life in general, such as work and relationships. Consider cutting down (see below for tips).

16-19: Higher risk of complications from alcohol. Cutting back on your own may be difficult at this level, as you may be dependent, so you may need professional help from your GP and/or a counsellor.

20 and over: Possible dependence. Your drinking is already causing you problems, and you could very well be dependent. You should definitely consider stopping gradually or at least reduce your drinking. You should seek professional help to ascertain the level of your dependence and the safest way to withdraw from alcohol.

Severe dependence may need medically assisted withdrawal, or detox, in a hospital or a specialist clinic. This is due to the likelihood of severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the first 48 hours needing specialist treatment.

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