Hangover 101: Cures & Prevention

The partying and binge drinking was fun last night but the after effects you’re going to feel in the morning certainly won’t be.  Thousands of people around the world suffer from the nausea, vomiting, headaches, and dehydration brought forth by hangovers.  There are a lucky few that are naturally resistant to hangovers, however, for the rest of us there are a few great tips we can follow to reduce the symptoms of a hangover drastically.  To reiterate, symptoms for a hangover usually include, nausea, headaches, fatigue, fevers, constant vomiting, diarrhea, poor depth perception, and certainly dehydration.  These symptoms can last from a few hours to several days.

Cause of Hangovers & Prevention

Hangovers  take place for a number of reasons, the primary one being that alcohol works as a diuretic, in other words, it makes you urinate…a lot.  This leads to a loss of fluids causing your body to dehydrate, and in turn, weakening your muscles, stomach, and making your mouth feel as if it’s stuffed with dry cotton swabs when you wake up.  Toxic by-products created after the metabolism of alcohol such as acetaldehyde and the depletion of vitamins A,B, B6, and C all add up to create a severe hangover.  Drinks also contain toxins known as congeners that are created during fermentation.  They give the liquor its array of colors and flavors.   Drinks with more congeners usually mean a more critical hangover in the morning.

Congeners in Alcohol:

• Scotch usually has four times more congeners than gin.
• Vodka has fewer congeners than gin.
• Red wine has a greater amount of congeners than white wine.
• Brandy and rum usually has thirty times more congeners than vodka.

So what does all that wind down to?  Well one thing for sure brandy and rum usually cause the worst hangovers.  Older wine contains less congeners.  Also mixing drinks makes it more difficult for the body to process and neutralize different congeners.  Often individuals tend to drink beer before getting to the hard liquors.  Beer is a carbonated beverage, and carbonation speeds up the rate of absorption, causing spirits to hit you harder and faster.

Prevention:

• Avoid mixing drinks and try using non-carbonated mixers.
• Drink plenty of water throughout the night so that your body does not become as dehydrated the following morning.
• Try drinking a glass of milk before consumption.  It coats the stomach and lowers the rates of absorption.
• Have a snack.  Eating before drinking also lowers the rate of absorbtion.
• Cheese and some small snacks have fatty content, therefore, slowing down the rate of absorbtion once more.
• Pop a vitamin B supplement before going to bed.  Alcohol uses up a lot of vitamin B in your body which results in a much more sever hangover the next morning.

Remedies & “Cures” for Hangovers

Allright so you know what causes hangovers and how to prevent them but still didn’t listen and now…you have a hangover.  Below are a series of tips you can follow to cure a hangover by relieving yourself of its symptoms.

• DRINK FLUIDS.  Your body is very dehydrated due to alcohols diuretic effects.  Drinking plenty of room temp. water will help you get back on track much quicker.
• Take an aspirin.  AVOID acetaminophen (Tylenol), the alcohol and Tylenol together is lethal to your liver!  To be honest, it is just best to avoid medications, even aspirin is known to upset the stomach of some people.
• Try taking a walk or doing a few light exercises to get your blood flowing again.
• Take a vitamin supplement with B vitamins in the morning.
• Eat a nice breakfast high in protein and with a bit of fat.  Milk and eggs would be a great option.
• Personally, I do not recommend coffee or other caffeinated beverages.
• Try drinking Ginger Ale or candied ginger.
• The best cure is PREVENTION!

Hope these tips help you in next time you decide to party hard.  If you have any comments, questions, or tips of your own please comment!