We all know that feeling. You wake up with a dull throbbing headache, your mouth is dry, you feel nauseated and you are fatigued, your muscles are aching – it’s just terrible all through your body.
When making merry, you always anticipate these, but for some reason, the hangover often ends up seeming worse than you anticipated. For some, even getting off bed could be a problem.
So, how do you remedy this? Well, if you over-indulges a little in the alcohol over the festive season, here is how to cure that hangover.
Drink plenty of fluids
Water, milk or room temperature juice. Such drinks help to rehydrate your body because alcohol often dehydrates you by increasing urine making in your kidneys. You will then also lose more water if you vomit, diarrhea or sweat, all of which happen to a higher degree when drunk.
Take a glass of water or milk the first thing in the morning after waking. Note that these drinks alone will not cure your hangover but will reduce symptoms.
Pain relievers
Over-the-counter pain relievers can help calm the pounding headache that comes with the hangover. Paracetamol tablets are best for this case as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory pills such as ibuprofen or aspirin could irritate your stomach and worsen your nausea.
Make a smoothie
With a terrible hangover, eating some solid food could further irritate your sensitive stomach so how about making a smoothie. Smoothies work well because they introduce important electrolytes into the body. They may also stabilize your blood sugar
You can blend in banana, frozen berries, almond milk and yoghurt. Smoothies help because they have antioxidants which help in reducing inflammation in your stomach.
Take some fast-digesting carbs
While some people may advice taking bacon, sausage or gravy could help cure a hangover, the reality is that meals high in fat take longer to digest and could prolong that nauseating feeling.
So, instead, take fast-digesting carbs like toast or crackers, paired with a protein such as eggs. With the eggs, ensure that they don’t have a strong smell to avoid triggering nausea.
What to avoid
While you know what to do, there are some things you should avoid doing:
- Taking another drink – previous wisdom dictated that to nurse a hangover, a small amount of alcohol is good. However, it is emerging that taking in more alcohol could in, fact prolong hangover symptoms and even lead to alcohol dependence.
- There is also no scientific evidence that beverages such as coffee or tea reduce hangover so avoid them for now.
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