Spiritual Minded Military Nevada National Guard: What Happens to Your Body 24 Hours After Binge Drinking? — The Alcohol Recovery Protocol
The Sunday Morning Regret
The drill weekend comes to an end. The formation disbands. The buddies are offering you a drink! It's a three-brew beer! Three becomes six. You lose count. On Sunday morning you find you have a headache and your mouth is like sandpaper!
You tell yourself it is only one night! You convince yourself that you deserve it. You say to yourself, "I will not do this again next month.
Your body has a score book. Your body won't forget. The airmen prepare for the tests, and training is rigorous. The airmen have a good time. The military culture normalizes the cycle. Train. Deploy. Drink. Repeat.
The enemy is attracted to the cycle. The enemy doesn't need you to be an alcoholic! The enemy must have you compromised on Monday morning.
For the strategic framework on high-performance alcohol recovery, read NEW YORK AIR FORCE TACTICAL ARCHITECTURE: FROM COCKPIT TO COMMAND.
Hour 0 to 6: The Absorption Phase
The liquid goes into your stomach. The alcohol enters into your bloodstream. The liver starts to metabolize. One drink (10 grams of alcohol) can be processed by the liver every hour. You had six.
Hour One. Alcohol gets to your brain. GABA increases. Glutamate decreases. You feel relaxed. You feel social. You feel invincible. It's like the feeling of a lie.
Hour Two. The frontal lobe slows down. Decision-making degrades. You place another bet. You text your ex. You say things that you will regret. The prefrontal cortex turns off.
Hour Three. The motor cortex is damaged. Your speech slurs. Your balance wavers. You stumble to the bathroom. You won't recall the fall.
Hours Four to Six. The highest BAC occurs. You're underage. You are compromised! The enemy is located in your command center.
The Nevada Guard member who drinks six beers in three hours will not remember the rest of the night. All of this will be remembered by the body.
For the complete guide to understanding how alcohol attacks the body, read From Battle Ready to Burned Out: What the Maryland National Guard Won't Tell You About Cellular Logistics.
Hour 6 to 12: The Crash
You stop drinking. You fall asleep. You do not sleep. You pass out.
REM sleep is actually not possible. Alcohol disrupts sleep architecture. Resting in light sleep overnight. No brain ever sleeps. The memories are not stored. There is a lack of waste clean-up.
Dehydration accelerates. Alcohol is in fact a diuretic. Excretes more water than is consumed. You spend water on each and every beer. Your brain shrinks due to dehydration. Your brain is tugging at its lining, causing the headache.
Inflammation begins. Enzymes are secreted into the bloodstream by the liver. The enzymes circulate in your blood. Your joints ache. Your muscles stiffen. Your face is puffy.
It's 3 am, and you wake up. Your heart races. Your mouth is dry. You're not able to get back to sleep. The enemy whispers. “You are weak.” “You can't control it.” This is what you will do next month.
What everyone is saying is a lie. The dehydration is also actual.
For the recovery framework that addresses alcohol damage, read Weekend Warrior, Weekday Wreck: The North Carolina Guard Logistics Solution No One Gave You.
Hour 12 to 18: The Hangover
You have a real-life dream. It is too sunny. The noise is excessively loud. Your stomach churns. Your head pounds. You promise to never drink again.
There are three parts to the hangover.
First, dehydration. Your brain remains shrunk. You will not get relief from the headache until hydrated. It will not suffice with water alone. You lost electrolytes. Sodium, potassium, and magnesium are required.
Second, inflammation. Your body is attacking itself. Liver enzymes are still in the blood. The joint pain will last for days.
Third, glutamate rebound. The alcohol inhibited glutamate. Now, the glutamate is in excess. Your nervous system is overexcited. You feel anxious. You feel irritable. You feel as though you're crawling out of your own skin.
The NC Guard member who has a lot of drinks on Saturday will feel bad on Sunday. The true harm is unseen.
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Hour 18 to 24: The False Recovery
You are eating fatty food. You consume a sports drink. You take ibuprofen. You feel better. You are not better.
The sports drink is a mixture of sugar and water. Raises blood sugar. It takes you an hour to crash, after which you are done. The dehydration remains.
The ibuprofen helps to suppress inflammation. Does not prevent the damage. Your liver is still busy as a beaver.
Food that is greased stifles digestion. Your stomach is already upset. The fat exacerbates the situation.
You feel well again. You have not. Your cognitive performance is still impaired. You still have a delayed response time. You are still influenced when making decisions.
The airman who believes he feels great at 8 PM Sunday will be wrong Monday morning.
For the Soldier for Christ Field Armor that protects your recovery, secure your Soldier for Christ Field Armor.
The 24-Hour Aftermath: What the Scale Does Not Show
You've suffered trauma. The scale does not indicate damage.
You have an inflamed liver. One night of heavy drinking is enough to start fatty liver disease. The condition is reversible. This condition is not treated with drugs but by abstaining.
You have a swollen brain. Not from alcohol. From the inflammatory response. The swelling affects brain function.
Your gut lining is damaged. The first step to leaky gut is to indulge in the drink. Bacteria infect you and get into your blood. Immune system attacks.
You are unable to sleep for days! A single night of heavy drinking will lead to disturbance of sleep for 3 nights. The interest on this REM debt accumulates.
The Nevada Guard member who drinks alcohol excessively once a month never gets better. The monthly cycle perpetuates chronic inflammation in the body.
For the Be Sober Minded shirt that declares a different path, secure it today.
The Alcohol Recovery Protocol
The Alcohol Recovery Protocol will not undo the damage. The alcohol recovery protocol will assist the recovery process in being faster. The real solution is to stop drinking.
Step One: Hydrate with Electrolytes
Water alone is not enough. You lost sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Sports drinks are sugar water.
The first hour after waking. One scoop of Cellular Hydrate – Electrolyte Formula in sixteen ounces of cold water. Drink it completely.
The second hour. Another scoop of Cellular Hydrate. Your body lost more than you think.
Every hour after. One glass of water. Small sips. The stomach is irritated. Do not chug.
For the uniform that you wear while you recover, secure your Spiritual Minded Military shirt.
Step Two: Replace Lost Nutrients
Alcohol depletes B vitamins. Alcohol depletes vitamin C. Alcohol depletes zinc.
- Eat eggs: The cysteine rebuilds the liver.
- Eat bananas: The potassium restores electrolyte balance.
- Eat oatmeal: The complex carbohydrates stabilize blood sugar.
The airman who eats garbage will recover slower. The airman who eats clean will return to baseline faster.
For the coffee that fuels your morning after recovery, secure Spiritual Minded Mushroom Coffee Blend.
Step Three: Rest the Nervous System
The glutamate rebound keeps you wired. You need to calm the nervous system. Box breathing. Four seconds in. Four seconds hold. Four seconds out. Four seconds hold. Ten cycles.
No caffeine. Your nervous system is already overexcited. Caffeine makes it worse. Dark room. The light sensitivity is real. Give your eyes a break.
The airman who skips rest will stay irritable. The airman who stays irritable will snap at his family.
Step Four: Stop the Cycle
The monthly drinking cycle is predictable. The monthly drinking cycle is preventable. Find a sober wingman. One person who will not drink with you after drill weekend.
Replace the activity. Go to the gym instead of the bar. Go home instead of the party. Wear your Choose To Be Sober shirt. The declaration matters. The shirt reminds you before you order the first drink.
The Nevada Guard member who stops the cycle will feel better. The Guard member who stops the cycle will perform better. The Guard member who stops the cycle will live longer.
For the complete Air Guard perspective on breaking the cycle, read Robins Air Force Base Briefing: Why GA Air Guard Airmen Wear Their Allegiance.
What Nevada Guard Commanders Need to Know
The drinking culture is killing readiness. Not slowly. Quickly.
The airman who drinks heavily on Saturday night is not ready for Monday morning. The soldier who binge drinks after drill is not ready for the weekday mission.
The commander who ignores the drinking culture accepts the consequences. Lower performance. Higher accidents. More injuries. More deaths.
The commander who addresses the culture changes the unit. The Remnant does not drink. The Remnant recovers. The Remnant fights.
For the cap that marks your commitment to sobriety, secure your Spiritual Minded Military Cap.
Conclusion: The 24-Hour Truth
The truth is uncomfortable. The truth is necessary.
Binge drinking damages your body for 24 hours. The damage continues for days. The cycle repeats every month. The Nevada Guard member who drinks heavily after drill never fully recovers.
The Alcohol Recovery Protocol treats the hangover. The real solution is sobriety. The real solution is the Choose To Be Sober shirt.
The choice is yours. The enemy is watching. Your unit is waiting.
Spiritual Minded Military Nevada National Guard: The Alcohol Recovery Protocol is now in effect. Stop the cycle. Recover faster. Choose sobriety. Fall in.
The Remnant does not transition. The Remnant re-enlists.
Spiritual Minded Military
We don't rank, we reign.
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