Ring in the coming holidays with cheer and not nursing a hangover
Yes, it is that time of the year again when the bubbly just doesn’t stop flowing. It wasn’t said without reason that this is the “time to be happy”. But before you start party hopping, pause a bit before you down one drink after another or you will be nursing a hangover.
It is rather sad that alcohol gives you a hangover, but it is a fact not to be messed around with. And if you play it a little smart, you need not wake up in the morning and call your best friend for his hangover cure — raw eggs in Worcestershire sauce.
Speaking scientifically, a hangover is called “delayed alcohol-induced headache”. Well, it couldn’t be more lucid than that. Delve a little further and you find that hangover is a sum of the following parts — headache, nausea, sensitivity to light and noise, lethargy, dysphoria (the opposite of euphoria), diarrhoea and thirst. This is all a result of excessive alcohol consumption that results in your body suffering from low blood glucose, dehydration, intoxication from digesting alcohol and vitamin B12 deficiency. The really bad news is — a severe hangover need not vanish in a single day and its symptoms can last for days together.
The first trick in the book to banish a hangover is to drink responsibly and slow down your rate of consumption. The second trick is to consume lots of water with your alcohol. Alcohol is a potent diuretic, and can dehydrate you rapidly. Research has shown that most cases of hangovers result from dehydration. And, finally, eat lots of food, especially foodstuff that is fibrous and those that contain a lot of water. They are said to slow down the rate of absorption of alcohol.
But this is not a perfect world, and if you wake up in the morning with you head about to split open, it pays to have cures on hand and it does not involve — raw eggs in Worcestershire sauce. Prioritise rehydration.
Consume lots of water or you can try citrus juices, buttermilk or even glucose, and oral rehydration salt solutions. Get some food in, especially bread as it fills your stomach without triggering nausea. And pop a vitamin B tablet to get your nutrient levels back. This, doctors say, should work and you don’t need to reach for an aspirin. And once you are back on your feet, make sure that you steer clear of anyone who says that the best way to beat a hangover is to have a drink again.
