You’re Wrong About “Break the Seal”
I first heard it at a college party: “If you break the seal,” my friend said grimly, “you’re breaking the deal.” I was going to the bathroom, the standard and reasonable trip we all make several times a day, but according to party legend, such a trip should be delayed as long as possible if he drinks alcohol. The idea is that once you first urinate while drinking, you will have to urinate a bunch more times in quick succession.
Is there any real science behind this hilarious knowledge?
No you don’t “break” any seal
While it is clear that you will urinate a lot if you drink a lot – be it alcoholic beverages or otherwise – there is no evidence that you will urinate more after your first trip to the bathroom. Urologist Dr. Petar Bajić summarized the issue as follows: ” To be clear, there is no seal you are defending .”
Please think about what you know about anatomy. Where and how would such a seal, activated only when you throw shots or drink beer, actually function? Use your sober brain to think through this riddle so your drunk brain doesn’t have to.
You will urinate more when you drink, but not because of the “seal”
Bayich noted that the average bladder is “the size of a pear,” so it makes sense that the more fluid you consume, the more often you need to empty it. More frequent trips to facilities on any given evening make even more sense when you consider that alcohol is a diuretic, which means it increases urine production. You drink plenty of fluids and take diuretics; of course , you will have to whistle more often than usual. This has nothing to do with what Bayich calls the “legendary seal” – because, again, the seal does not exist.
If you want to dig deeper into the science behind why you pee so much in the club, you can go further: Alcohol suppresses the release of vasopressin, the antidiuretic hormone that normally causes your kidneys to absorb fluid and distribute the rest. to your body. According to Healthline , vasopressin suppression is noticeable because you will produce more urine than usual and urinate from your fluid reserves.
That’s why you should drink water at night. All this fluid depletion leads to dehydration, and if you drink enough to give you a nasty little hangover , dehydration will only make you feel worse.
Don’t fall victim to an urban legend
People are suggestible. There may be more drunk people. It’s time to end your attachment to this urban legend just like you’ve grown up believing that the order in which you drink certain types of alcohol somehow influences your likelihood of vomiting. At some point, you learned that moderation—not ordering a ton of drinks in a very specific order—was the key to avoiding vomiting, and yet the equally bogus seal myth persisted. A pity.