You had a fantastic time last night, but the hangover is getting to you, and now you’re paying the price. Right now, all you want is a little comfort from the pain of a bad hangover. While there are several measures you can do to reduce the discomfort and reclaim your natural balance, the ideal hangover remedies are time and sleep.
This morning’s agony might have been avoided had you taken the necessary precautions the night before. For the time being, the focus is on reducing alcohol’s bad effects.
Symptoms of a Hangover
After a night of heavy drinking, you’ll know what the morning after may bring. If you’re experiencing nausea, a headache, a dry mouth, and tiredness, you’ve got a bad hangover.
Each of these signs and symptoms is caused by a specific underlying condition. Alcohol causes sleep disruption and makes you feel drowsy in the morning. Moreover, it causes your blood vessels to dilate, which might result in headaches. Aside from that, alcohol irritates the lining of your stomach, causing nausea and even diarrhea.
Sadly, there is no one-size-fits-all hangover cure, since each person’s physiology is unique. In the end, it’s up to you to figure out what works best for you.
There Is No Magical Hangover Cure
The first thing to keep in mind is that there is no magical remedy to your case. Buying “hangover remedies” from the convenience store may seem like a good idea, but in reality, many of them are pretty useless. Some hangover supplements may provide relief, but it’s necessary to do some digging to guarantee their safety.
Although there’s no foolproof technique to avoid a hangover aside from abstinence, there are certain things you can try to find the morning after a bit less awful. In this article, we’ll explore a few tried-and-true remedies for a hangover.
Drink Plenty of Water
The simplest hangover remedy may be a large glass of water. When you drink alcohol, your kidneys produce more pee, which causes you to get dehydrated faster. In addition, you lose fluid if you sweat, vomit, or have diarrhea following a binge-drinking session. When you’re dehydrated, you’ll experience things like dry mouth and a headache.
If you have a few drinks, make sure to hydrate yourself before going to sleep by drinking some water. It will help alleviate the after-effects of the alcohol in the morning. Keep yourself hydrated by having another glass of water first thing in the morning.
To give yourself a quick boost, mix a few drops of lemon juice into a cup of warm water. If you have ginger on hand, add it to ease nausea. This is among the most simple and effective restorative beverages you can prepare.
Guzzle Sports Drinks
Looking for a hangover fix that goes above and beyond plain old water? Choose a non-fizzy sports drink, instead. In addition to electrolytes, which aid in fluid balance, these beverages are also loaded with sugar and other simple carbohydrates. Hence, sports drinks increase glucose and sodium levels, which aid muscle cells in absorbing and using water, resulting in faster rehydration.
Can’t find a sports drink? Try consuming electrolyte-rich meals and plenty of plain water. Pretzels, for example, contain 486 mg of salt per ounce (oz). A medium banana has 422 milligrams of potassium. A serving of cooked spinach provides 157 mg of magnesium, while a serving of almonds provides 385 mg of calcium, according to the USDA.
Sleep It Off
Rest is your greatest friend right now since your body needs time to heal. Simply put, try to sleep as much as you possibly can. Extra sleep, even if it’s only an hour or two, may make a huge difference.
Consider canceling any plans you have today if your hangover is terrible. Although this is not an encouragement to act irresponsibly, it is something you should have considered last night.
Fuel Up With Some Breakfast
Food may be the last thing on your mind, but it might be beneficial. It need not be much or something that will make you throw up. Though you don’t feel like eating, make an effort to consume foods that are high in nutrients and protein.
If you’re not sure where to start, try a simple carbohydrate such as bread, crackers, or pretzels first. A glass of apple or orange juice can help you get more carbohydrates in your meal. Carbohydrates help control blood sugar levels, reducing symptoms such as dizziness.
If it doesn’t work, try a fruit (bananas are great) or a smoothie. Make sure you couple them with some protein like eggs to keep your blood sugar levels in check.
Try Natural Supplements
Certain vitamins and extracts may also be beneficial in treating hangovers. However, what is effective for one individual may not be effective for another. It’s okay to experiment with various supplements as long as you don’t go beyond the daily dosage prescribed for each one.
Red ginseng is a natural remedy that may help with hangover symptoms. This herb is widely used in Korea and has been shown to accelerate the metabolism of ethanol. It also lessens the severity of a hangover. Additionally, another Korean hangover quick fix, Korean pear juice, was discovered to help reduce hangover symptoms while also lowering blood alcohol levels.
While natural supplements may seem like promising hangover remedies, the following things should be considered:
- There is still a lot of work to be done to prove the efficacy and safety of these supplements.
- There aren’t as many regulations on natural supplements as there are on prescription drugs in general.
- Some supplements include higher doses of vitamins than advised. Others fail to provide the whole dosages of the various components.
It’s important that you consult with your healthcare professional about any supplements or natural therapies that you may be exploring, just as you would with other medicines.
Restore and Protect With Vitamin B and Vitamin C
Many of the symptoms of a hangover are caused by nutrition deficiencies. Moreover, alcohol has a significant impact on the vitamin B levels in the bloodstream. Vitamin B is necessary for energy, cognitive function, and the normal operation of the immune and nervous systems. Hence, Vitamin B deficiency is connected with tiredness and low energy levels.
In addition to vitamin B, vitamin C is an important nutrient for hangover recovery. Drinking alcohol may damage the body’s immune system, making it less able to protect itself from the symptoms of a hangover. To boost your protection, consume enough vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables. You can also take vitamin C supplements for faster absorption.
Make Yourself Sweat
Exercise may be the greatest hangover remedy because it stimulates blood flow to the brain and boosts your mood-enhancing hormones, which give you renewed energy. Additionally, it improves the body’s detoxification process and reduces inflammation. However, the only thing standing in your way is motivating yourself to do it.
Hangover workouts should be confined to low- to moderate-intensity activities because the hangover will adversely affect cognitive function, motor control, and balance. So, when a person is hungover, their attention, decision-making abilities, and muscular coordination may all decline.
In addition, consuming enough water before, during, and after exercise is essential, given the fact that the body has already been dehydrated due to excessive alcohol consumption.
Hangover Remedies To Avoid
Although there are various popular beliefs on how to get rid of a hangover, none of them are backed up by science. Some of them may even be damaging to your overall health and wellbeing.
- The Hair Of The Dog
Contrary to popular belief, the practice of drinking more alcohol the following morning to counteract the symptoms of a hangover isn’t effective in the long term. While this may alleviate symptoms temporarily, supplying the liver with more alcohol to digest will only worsen your suffering later and extend the time required to recover from a hangover.
Furthermore, developing a morning-after drink practice may result in increased alcohol use and may contribute to long-term alcohol dependency.
- Fried Or Greasy Food
If you consume fatty meals before drinking, the oils may cover your stomach lining, therefore slowing alcohol absorption. However, if you devour fatty food the morning after a night of heavy drinking, it will only worsen your digestive problems by agitating the gut and intestines.
- Caffeine
Caffeine may help alleviate the drowsiness related to a hangover. Additionally, it may assist in relieving headaches by restricting blood vessels. However, this relief is just momentary, and the symptoms may recur. Furthermore, coffee works as a diuretic, which causes the body to be more dehydrated.
- Burnt Toast
Activated charcoal (also known as activated carbon) acts as a filter and is often used to address some kinds of overdoses. Though it may seem natural that carbon present on burned toast would act similarly, the two are not the same substance.
Activated charcoal undergoes special processing to enhance its capacity to absorb toxic substances. However, the carbon present on burned toast is not processed the same way, and it includes other chemicals.
Bottom Line
We at The Knew Method understand that things happen in life. You’re not the only one who thinks the last cocktail of yesterday’s happy hour was a little too much. But, we’re not here to pass judgment. We’re here to help.
So, if you wake up with a banging headache screaming, “I’m never drinking again,” it’s time to show some love to your body. Staying hydrated, drinking a sports drink, and getting enough sleep are all important ways to get over a hangover fast. The most essential thing to remember is to have patience. Despite how long it seems, you’ll be over this hangover in no time.
