Can you sweat out alcohol is not a clear yes or no question. The answer is both yes and no. The body works in mysterious ways. One of those ways is ridding it of the toxins that come into contact with it. Alcohol is one of these poisons. However, the body can work out alcohol through various means. Sweat is one of them but it is not the only one.
How Alcohol Leaves the Body
Alcohol generally is metabolized through the liver. The liver is only able to metabolize a certain amount in the body. So, the liver needs additional help from other areas in the body. When a person drinks more than 12-ounces of beer in an hour, the alcohol is not able to metabolize in the liver alone and it will end up going into the bloodstream. Your liver will work overtime to remove the alcohol, but it is not going to be able to break it all down.
This means that there are other means that alcohol is excreted from the body. The lining of your stomach breaks down a small amount of alcohol. Urine, breath, and sweat are the other areas. These areas only account for around 10% of alcohol loss, the other 90% is in the liver.
Alcohol and the “Sweat it Out” Method
Many people wonder, can you sweat out alcohol? There have been many studies performed to learn more about the correlation between alcohol and physical movement. It was shown that since the body is already dehydrated due to the alcohol put into the system, sweating it out might not be the best idea. This can cause the hangover to become much worse.
When you wake up the next morning, the liver has already metabolized most of the alcohol, meaning there is not much left to sweat out. What is left at this time is the aftereffect of the alcohol and the dehydration that follows.
The best hangover cures, backed by science are being smart about the amount of alcohol that you drink, getting plenty of sleep, eating a good breakfast, or Tylenol and a lot of water when you get home and in the morning when you wake up, not sweating it out at the gym. This may make matters worse and make your body feel worse.
Answering can you sweat out alcohol in terms of curing your hangover and removing the alcohol from your system, in short, is a no.
