How to Handle a Hangover
Are you a party animal? Like a drink or two but don’t want to mar the start of 2022 with a mammoth hangover? We at Pembrokeshire.Online have been checking out the best advice.
Of course, the best way to avoid a hangover is to manage what you drink, but there are other things you can do to minimise the effects if you have, for once, indulged a little too much.
First things first
Before you start, have a good meal. If there is ever a time to go carb-heavy it’s prior to a big night out, so line your stomach with pasta, beans on toast or something with spuds. Alternatively, you could drink a pint of milk.
Drink water in between any alcoholic drinks and before you go to bed.
Apparently, alcohol blocks the creation of the chemical vasopressin. It causes the kidneys to send water straight to the bladder which leads to dehydration – and that’s the main reason for the hangover
NHS guidelines recommend that men should not drink more than three to four units a day, two to three for women. A small glass of wine is about 1.5 units and a pint of beer is around two or three, and as it takes your body around one hour to break down a unit, it makes sense to pace yourself. If you are going to have lots to drink, at least leave a gap between finishing your first drink and starting the next one – which gives your body a chance to process it all.
Different types of alcohol produce different types of hangover and only drinking the drinks lighter in colour should help. There are congeners in alcohol which are produced in the fermenting process. The darker the alcohol, the more congeners usually, and the more likely you are to feel terrible if you over-indulge.
Don’t forget that fizzy drinks will actually speed up the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into your system. Fruit juices and water are better mixers if you are to avoid the horrible morning-after head.
If you want to drink but not get sloshed, there are some excellent alcohol-free drinks out there to try.
Is there a cure for a hangover?
Sorry but we are told that there are no cures for a hangover. However, filling that tummy before you start should help, and eating something greasy the morning after might work too, if you can face it. Bananas are supposed to be good too because of the potassium.
There is also some evidence to suggest that isotonic drinks such as Lucozade Sport and Powerade can work wonders on hangovers They help to replace sugars and salts quickly and rehydrate you, and if it’s really bad, something like Dioralyte might help.
Some swear by Ibuprofen, if you can take it, but don’t exceed the stated dose.
An alternative hangover cure (which my colleague Nigel Summerley swears by) is the homeopathic remedy Nux Vomica. Apparently, the best thing is to take one Nux Vom 200 tablet before you go to bed… and if you forget, take it as soon as you wake up.
Say no to coffee because it makes you pee and you need to get rehydrated.
We might be stating the obvious here but a shower and a sleep might help.
Hair of the dog? We have heard it works wonders, but we can’t recommend it. Excessive drinking is something that most of us have done at one time or another but it is a slippery slope to rely upon alcohol at any time, in any form.
Enjoy your new year… but we are bound to say that if you think you may have a problem with drinking too much too often, you really should get some help.
