The Truth Behind the Myth: Does Breaking the Seal Really Make You Pee More When Drinking

Technically, no it doesn't. Breaking the seal isn't what makes you pee more. By the time you need to pee, the damage is done so to speak. If you hold your pee in because you don't want to 'break the seal', all you're doing is putting strain on your bladder and sit there uncomfortable. So why is that?

Why do we pee so much when we drink?

The story starts with ethanol, the active ingredient in any alcoholic beverage. As we finish off that first pint of cool refreshing beer, the ethanol is absorbed through the digestive system, enters the bloodstream and eventually goes to the liver to be processed.

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The Blocking of Vasopressin

At the same time, the ethanol molecules from the beer get into the brain and begin to alter the chemistry. It does many things to alter the brain chemistry and one of those things is to block vasopressin. This is an antidiuretic hormone and main purpose of this hormone is to regulate the balance of water in your body. It does this by sending signals to the kidneys and telling them essentially how much water the body needs to retain and how much water the kidneys can release as urine.

So as you're drinking your beer, the ethanol is flooding the brain and this slows down the release of the hormone vasopressin. If the brain stops releasing it as much, then the kidneys don't receive as much of the signal. If the kidneys don't receive as much of the signal, then they hold less water and more is flushed out as urine. So you end up losing more water than you normally would, which can lead to dehydration.

Ironically the dehydration can make you want to drink more so what do you do? Keep drinking alcohol but it makes the problem worse.

Breaking The Seal

When you decide to break the seal, all you're feeling is the result of this entire process. The pee is already built up in your bladder ready to come out. Breaking the seal doesn't make more pee come out, drinking more alcohol does. Dehydration then ends up being one of the symptoms of a hangover the next day due to this heavy loss of fluid.

We evolved to handle a certain type of environment with certain consumption habits. Natural sources of ethanol are tiny compared to the potent alcoholic beverages we consume today. Because our drinks are high in alcohol content, they trigger our bodies in an abnormal way. It over-excites our ancient biological systems and causes exaggerated consequences compared to what our ancestors would have experienced.

Break the seal when you need to. It'll come out at some point anyway!