So, throughout this evening (about the last 4 hours) Ive been drinking a 40% ABV rum with some soda. Ive consumed nearly .500ml of the stuff. Needless to say I got pretty stupid from it. Then, while searching for something fast to munch on, I grabbed a jar of olives from the fridge and have been chowing down on them for about a half an hour. Probably eaten 10-15 of em…and I began to notice I felt as though I was sobering up REAL fast (ala, able to type properly, normal vision, walk just fine)…which got me curious and I found myself Googling whether vinegar could sober one up. I was surprised to find many articles on the subject, with a number of theories that it indeed could get your mind working again.
Well, if first-hand experience tells me anything, then YES…I certainly feel much more sober than I did an hour ago (.500 of hard liquor doesnt just vanish by itself, after all), but I was wondering if there was any scientific evidence behind the theory.
So far, I think we can conclude:
[ul]
[li]Waiting an hour starts to sober you up[/li][li]When you’re drunk, you can’t tell the difference between brine and vinegar[/li][/ul]
I always thought they were packed in brine? The jar of olives in my fridge says water, salt, lactic acid, sodium alcinate, guar gum, calcium chloride.
I looked up lactic acid and it’s not vinegar–that’s acetic acid.
In fairness to the OP, I googled and found that some fancy olives *are *pickled with vinegar, although probably not enough to have much of an active effect on inebriation. Unless administered slowly over an hour or two.
I’ve eaten plenty of olives while drinking, and they never did a thing to sober me up. Of course, they’re usually skewered and soaking in Bombay gin before I eat them.
