Top 10 Hangover Tips
Here are the top 10 hangover tips that could definitely help you on your next night out. The first 5 tips are pretty common, the second 5 tips get into specific nutrients that are known to help hangovers.
Here they are…
1. Drink a lot of water
The effective rule of thumb is to drink a glass of water with every drink or beer. That could be difficult, and cause you to pee lot. At the least, drinking a couple of glasses of water before going to bed can help with the dehydration effect of alcohol.
2. Stay away from mixing alcohols
Stick to one type of alcohol when having drinks. Whether it’s just beer, just wine or just whiskey, the second you mix the alcohols you can have some problems. Everyone has that friend who drank a little bit everything one night and was sick as a dog (or maybe that was you).
3. Minimize sweet drinks
An overdose of sugar with a good amount of alcohol is another recipe for disaster. The spike of sugar can have the effect of drinking a Red Bull or two, and then having an energy crash, but it can be twice as worse with alcohol in your system. Next time, minimize the amount those sweet drinks such as Coke and hard liquor, schnapps, imitation flavored margaritas and daiquiris.
4. Monitor your drinking
Going out with and having fun with your friends doesn’t mean you have to chug a keg of beer or down a bottle of wine. It’s not rocket-science to know this tip, but it’s a good REMINDER. And you thank yourself the next morning!
5. Eat a healthy meal before going out
Eating a good meal before going out makes a world of a difference. You won’t get as drunk with a full stomach, your body will have the energy to up-keep with the social atmospheres and you’ll have some nutrition to ease the effects of alcohol.
The Second 5 Tips
And now for the second half. Alcohol is known to deplete nutrients from your body, which is assumed to be a major reason for getting hangovers. By simply replacing those nutrients and adding nutrients known to be good for a hangover, you have the best chance to wake up feeling good the next day.
Lets just say that if you utilize these next 5 tips, you have the best chance to not wake up with a hangover. It is best to use these nutrients right before or during drinking, rather then the next day after you already have the hangover.
To continue the list, here are 5 nutrients known to be good for hangovers.
6. Prickly Pear
This cactus found mainly in Arizona of the US regions, is vastly growing popular because of hangover studies coming out from places like Tulane University Sciences Center in New Orleans. It’s no surprise, the Aztecs started cultivating the plant in Mexico in the early sixteenth century for its medicinal purposes.
Bastyr Center for Natural Health (a teaching clinic for Bastyr University) writes about prickly pear for hangovers. “A prickly pear fruit (Opuntia ficus indica) extract may reduce alcohol hangover symptoms, according to the Archives of Internal Medicine (2004;164:1334-40).”
7. Milk Thistle
With strong antioxidant properties and liver-protecting abilities, milk thistle has been used on hangovers for a very long time.
Becky Pugh, from Telegragh, states after testing multiple hangover remedies, “This is by far the best remedy I sampled. It eliminated nausea and limited that debilitating tiredness.”
8. Vitamin C
Being an important antioxidant, Vitamin C has been shown to reduce the toxic effects of alcohol in the liver, along with speeding up the metabolism of alcohol by the liver. It is also essential to re-hydration of the body.
Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D from About.com comments on Vitamin C – “Detoxifying alcohol and its metabolites leaves free radicals floating around in the body. Vitamin C is an excellent antioxidant, so having enough available will help minimize tissue damage and hangover discomfort. Alcohol also depresses the immune system, so consider taking vitamin C to help ward off the cold or flu after drinking.”
9. Vitamin B
It is theorized that the depletion of Vitamin B causes a hangover. Either way, vitamin B1 calms your shaky nervous system and helps your weary body break down still-lurking alcohol.
Read what Wikipedia says about Vitamin B1 – Vitamin B1 (thiamine): there are claims that apart from helping prevent Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, thiamine supplements may substantially enhance the activity of alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase and so prevent a build up of glutamate and hence GABA in the cerebellum of the brain (thus reducing some symptoms of hangovers). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangover
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) helps your digestive system function and promotes a normal appetite. Niacin plays an important role in removing toxic and harmful chemicals from the body and is also effective in improving circulation. And Vitamin B5 helps with fatigue, weakness and possibly headaches.
10. Taurine
This popular natural amino acid coming from the energy drink craze works synergistic with B and C vitamins to help increase the metabolism of the liver, speeding up the detoxification process. It also provides energy, but without the jittery feeling like caffeine.
“Researchers at the University of London’s School of Pharmacy say taurine can reverse the liver damage caused by alcoholism or even a heavy night’s drinking.” – BBC News
Top 10 Hangover Tips by Liam Deantoni
