Mechanism library
Browse the mechanism pages explaining acetaldehyde, glutathione depletion, sleep disruption, inflammation, and more.
Mechanisms and Symptom Guides
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critical
Acetaldehyde is the first and most damaging product of ethanol metabolism.
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critical
Alcohol metabolism has a bottleneck.
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critical
A hangover is not caused by ethanol.
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high
Glutathione is the liver's main non-enzymatic defense against reactive metabolites.
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high
Alcohol is a short-acting sedative with a long-acting excitatory rebound.
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high
The anxiety that hits the morning after drinking is not a character failing and it is not dehydration.
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high
Alcohol does not just create toxins.
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high
CYP2E1 is the backup alcohol-clearance route you would prefer not to use.
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high
The dull body-ache quality of a hangover — beyond the acute acetaldehyde toxicity — is a systemic inflammatory response.
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high
Alcohol recovery is partly a redox problem.
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high
Waking up at 3am after drinking is not random.
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high
The moment you get home from drinking is the most valuable intervention window of the whole protocol.
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medium
A hangover is not "just dehydration." Dehydration contributes to some symptoms — thirst, mild headache, dry mouth — but the heavy symptoms are acetaldehyde-driven.
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medium
If you know you're drinking tonight and you're thinking ahead, you have time to do something most people don't: raise your clearance capacity before it's stressed.