What booze really does to your bowels – and how to avoid the dreaded hangover poos

WHEN you crack open your eyes the morning after drinking, you might think a headache will be the only remnant of the night’s indulgences.

But a cold sweat takes hold when you realise you have to run to the loo, pounding head and all.

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Next-day diarrhoea won’t strike everyone – some people might even feel constipated.

But unfortunately, a night of boozing will affect more than your head in most cases.

According to Dr Megan Rossi, known as The Gut Health Doctor, alcohol irritates the gut lining and muscles, leading to an ominous-sounding ‘leaky gut.’

Speaking to Metro, she said: “This essentially means that dietary and microbial components that normally can’t get from your gut into your blood are more able to penetrate the gut barrier.

“This in turn can lead to increased inflammation throughout the body.”

As well as affecting your gut lining, alcohol can also impact your gut muscles and the way food moves through your gut, Megan went on.

This is essentially what leads to the loose poops that many people experience four to 12 hours after drinking alcohol – also known as hangover poos.

Speaking to Healthline, Dr Elroy Vojdani – a gastroenterologist at Northwestern Medicine’s Digestive Health Center – had another way to explain the dreaded phenomenon.

When the lining of your gut gets irritated, it loses its a absorptive properties.

And what your body can’t absorb it expels, he said, and this is very much the case for booze and the toxins produced by it.

Booze also suppresses the secretion of vasopressin, a hormone that regulates the body’s water retention, leading to an increased need to pee.

On top of that, drink can make whatever is in your gut move faster.

“The colon then has less time to absorb everything, which prevents adequate water absorption,” Dr Vodjani went on.

The result is watery poos that hit you with a desperate urgency.

Are some drinks worse than others?

According to Medical News Today, some boozy beverages can leave your stomach feeling more worse for wear than others.

Beer contains more carbohydrates than other types of booze, which your body might have some trouble breaking down. This can lead to diarrhoea.

Wine might also give some people looser poops if they’re sensitive to the tannins in it – these are the compounds found in grape skins, which can also cause headaches and nausea.

Finally, cocktails and sugary mixed drinks might leave you with more than a sore head.

The high sugar content can make diarrhoea worse for some people, as lots of it can cause the body to push out the contents of the intestines quicker.

How to avoid the dreaded hangover poos

The obvious solution would be to not drink at all.

But there are some things you can do to make your post-alcohol poops not quite so dire:

1. Drink in moderation – no binge drinking
2. Avoid drinks high in sugar
3. Choose mixers that don’t have artificial sugar
4. Don’t have drinks that contain caffeine, as this can also make you poop
5. Don’t drink on an empty stomach
6. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated

Dr Vojdani had some advice about what you should eat or drink before a night out to counteract booze’s effect on your gut.

First and foremost, make sure you’re hydrated before you begin boozing – as well as during and after.

He also recommended you eat a balanced and fibre-rich meal beforehand to reduce irritation in your intestines.

If you just have time for a snack, Dr Vodjani suggested you graze on:

• Plain crackers or toast
• A banana
• White rice
• Whole grains
• Chicken

If you tend to soak up your drinking with a greasy takeout, bear in mind that some foods might irritate your stomach further.

They include spicy or highly seasoned foods and condiments, cheese or ice cream and fried things like chips and chicken nuggets.