Having a fun night out with your friends after a long week usually involves a great deal of alcohol. As fun as it sounds, the aftermath of the dreaded hangover is not all that enjoyable.
The body reminds you of the dangers of excessive drinking via hangovers. The outcome of overdrinking is usually the devil’s trifecta: severe headaches, fatigue, and nausea. At this point, one questions their life’s choices and wonders if it’s worth going through the repercussions.
To properly circumvent this unsavory distress, it is best to either take preventive measures or be prepared to encounter one after a night of partying. Here are some useful tips to overcome an unpleasant hangover effectively.
Hydration is Key
Alcohol causes dehydration in different ways. It can alter the natural conditions of the stomach and cause improper digestion, leading to diarrhea and vomiting. This form of unanticipated excretion causes immense loss of electrolytes and fluids. Moreover, alcohol is a strong diuretic. This means that it causes frequent urination, contributing to further water loss.
Although dehydration is not the sole cause of hangovers, it plays a significant role in causing dizziness, extreme thirst, painful headaches, and fatigue. To reduce these symptoms and to feel better, it is vital to drink lots of water and other hydrating fluids during and after your big night out.
You can also drink lots of water prior to the hangover to lessen its intensity. You can follow the general principle of moderating your alcohol intake by drinking water in intervals between the drinks. Stay hydrated the day after by increasing your water intake. Water also helps in detoxifying your body significantly.
Caffeine
To manage the grogginess during a hangover, you can drink any caffeinated drink like tea or coffee. Caffeine acts as a stimulant as it raises the heart rate and constricts the blood pathways. It will help you somewhat alleviate headaches.
However, avoid going overboard with caffeinated beverages as they are also mild diuretics and can exacerbate the dehydration caused by the alcohol. Besides coffee, you can check out beverageclass.com to source different teas to make the situation more manageable.
Moderate Alcohol Intake
It is a no-brainer that the best prevention of hangovers is not drinking at all. The more drinks you have, the more terrible your hangover will be. It is recommended to have one drink per hour to lessen the severity of the hangover.
You can also follow the rule of thumb mentioned earlier: alternate between water and alcoholic drinks to lower the brutal effects.
Hearty Breakfast
To soak up all that alcohol in your system, you need a good old hearty breakfast. Excessive amounts of alcohol throw off your body’s processes – especially your blood pH and blood pressure.
Alcohol lowers the pH in your digestive system, which causes increased acidity. The increased acidity leads to nausea, vomiting, and general fatigue.
The vital nutrients in a nourishing meal, such as proteins, vitamins, and minerals will help the body retain its normal healthy state. To mitigate the agonizing symptoms of the hangover, get a filling hearty meal.
The ideal breakfast should have rich proteins like egg and yogurt to replenish your body. Having some fruit or juice is a great way of replenishing essential vitamins and sugars.
It is also recommended to load up on carbs like bread and potatoes so that the blood sugar levels can return to their normal state.
Rest Up
Your body goes through a lot and needs to recover. Give some time for your body to heal. If possible, take the day off and catch up on your sleep. Give your body time to detox. This is why Friday night is ideal to party on so you can crash on Saturday without compromising too many responsibilities. Avoid laborious activities that will deplete your energy and make you feel worse.
Some light exercise and stretching will not hurt, but avoid strenuous exercises that will make you sweat. You certainly do not want to exacerbate the dehydration your body is already experiencing.
Alcohol can cause disruptions to your sleep pattern too and decrease the quality of sleep. A day of heavy drinking can most likely cause an unsatisfying sleep, not letting your body rest and recharge. Lack of sleep also leads to body aches, general fatigue, and excruciating headaches.
Allow your body to get better and overcome the stress it underwent due to the booze. Take a rest and get some sleep to make up for the poor quality one you had earlier. Your hangover will be more bearable after you get enough sleep.
Steer Clear of Congeners
During the fermentation process of alcohol production, there are some toxic by-products known as congeners. Different alcoholic drinks contain different amounts of congeners. The higher levels of congener a beverage contains, the more severe the hangover effects will be.
Congeners also tend to extend the hangover symptoms as they slow down the breakdown of alcohol. Alcoholic drinks like vodka, gin, and rum contain low amounts of congeners. Vodka, specifically, has a negligible quantity of this toxin.
On the other hand, cognac, tequila, and whiskey have high congener content. Bourbon whiskey has the highest levels of the congener. There are studies proving that low congener drinks like vodka have less serious symptoms than high congener drinks like tequila.
No wonder we feel like death and regret doing tequila shots on those crazy weekends at the club. Hence, opting for drinks low in congeners may make hangovers more tolerable.
Hair of the Dog
Don’t worry, this phrase doesn’t actually mean ingesting actual dog hair. This term means drinking one or two shots of alcohol the day after to alleviate the hangover effects. Having more alcohol seems counterintuitive, but some people swear by this method.
Supplements
You can try out some supplements to ward off the aftermath of heavy drinking. Red ginseng can be a great choice as it has special properties that reduce the alcohol levels in the blood. You can also have ginger to ease nausea caused by the hangover.
Drink Responsibly
No one likes the tormenting effects of alcohol. A fun night out of heavy drinking is alright but do not make it a regular habit as this can permanently damage your liver. Have a good time with friends but drink responsibly with proper preventive measures and always make sure there’s a safe way home.
