33. Brandy is Actually Bad For You If You’re Freezing
It is commonly assumed today – and certainly was assumed in centuries past – that brandy or other strong spirits can warm you. So the notion that a freezing traveler caught up in an Alpine blizzard could be revived and warmed up with brandy makes intuitive sense. However, a lot of stuff that makes intuitive common sense does not actually work anywhere near as well as common sense says it should. The notion that alcohol warms us is just a myth.
The warming sensation from downing strong spirits like whiskey or brandy is illusory. What alcohol does is bring our blood closer to the skin, making us think that we are warming up. What it does not do is warm up our vital organs, whose failure from excessive cold could seriously harm or kill us. Bringing somebody’s blood closer to the skin in the cold actually speeds up the lowering of our core body temperature, and places our vital organs at greater risk. So it is a good thing that Saint Bernards toting brandy barrels is a myth: otherwise many rescue attempts would have backfired.
