Hangovers – In The Know

Hopefully the holiday hangovers have taught us not to drink too much. If not, maybe we've learned a way to drink and avoid the next morning's effects. While most hangovers disappear naturally after between eight and twenty-four hours, there are several cures or remedies you can try, these include drinking water to re-hydrate the body. Since too much alcohol causes blood sugar levels to fall, foods that boost blood sugar are highly recommended. Foods that restore lost potassium and salts as well those containing fructose (which assists in burning the alcohol faster) would be helpful too. My hangover cure is not for the faint of heart, but it works... when I drank too much I'd do this: Upon waking up, drink two liters of water, "take" a codeine suppository and then go for a 5 mile run... come home and drink two more liters of water. If you survived the run, the hangover would be gone for good and you'd feel fine... if not, you'd just collapse and die. Also, try sipping coconut water as it contains a high amount of electrolytes along with magnesium and potassium and will help your body to replenish minerals that have been lost due to drinking alcohol. You can also drink freshly squeezed orange juice with a bit of honey. Vitamin C present in orange juice will help the liver to process the alcohol from your system faster and also wash out the toxins. Hangovers can happen anytime you drink. They are a rough thing to deal with, but time remains the ultimate and unarguable cure. Of course, hangovers are felt mostly in the morning following an alcoholic session the previous night. They're caused by a variety of chemical and biological reactions to alcohol. Hangovers are experienced by every party-goer at least once in their lifetime. The reason this hangover cure works is because of re-hydration, unfortunately this effect doesn't last, because eventually it comes right back to the dehydrating effect of alcohol and a vicious cycle sets in. The strong desire for a hangover cure has led to many strange experimental remedies. In the middle ages, for example, hangover sufferers tried to relieve their pain by eating a mixture that included raw eel. Hangovers cost the United States more than $148 billion annually in worker absenteeism and poor job performance, according to a study by researchers at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, California. At the end of the day, sleeping off a hangover is still the best way for your body to cope during those painful hours. Cures For Hangovers Bananas Hangover Remedies Your common or garden hangover is caused by drinking too much alcohol, everyone knows that. But not a lot of people know that the symptoms of a hangover are caused by dehydration and a lack of essential minerals in the body. Hangover remedies are a common topic in bars all around the world. Most of the "home brew" remedies you hear about are ineffective (raw eggs and orange juice) or potentially dangerous (acetaminophen). Fortunately, there are now hangover remedies that allow you to enjoy moderate drinking without the pain and discomfort of a hangover. Taking traditional hangover remedies, like aspirin or acetaminophen (Tylenol), means you've already lost the battle. In addition, acetaminophen has been linked to liver toxicity, especially when combined with alcohol. Aspirin can cause stomach irritation and caffeine can cause hypertension and nervousness. One of the less obvious hangover remedies is in choosing what to drink in the first place. All alcoholic beverages contain sugars that play a big role in the severity of your hangover. Some contain more than others. There are currently many hangover remedies proposed to cure and heal the effect of hangover. There are the traditional homemade remedies and the modern scientifically proven hangover remedies offered for the sufferers to try, in hope to eliminate the morning-after effects. When it comes to the best hangover remedies, they are definitely natural hangover remedies. Let's face it, wouldn't you feel safer taking in a hangover home remedy, rather than some shady concoction made by mixing some weird chemicals? But then again, you wouldn't be in a right state of mind to decide, so there's no real point. In order to determine which hangover remedies are any good, we must first establish exactly what the physiological causes of hangovers are. Getting drunk is, for better or worse, the poisoning of your body. Alcohol enters your bloodstream at a rapid rate, smothering the frontal lobe of your brain, which releases its control of your judgment and social inhibitions. All symptoms of hangovers stem from your body's attempts to process alcohol and rid your system of it. Eating a few bananas is also recommended as one of the hangover remedies because bananas contain a high amount of potassium and other nutrients. Bananas also contain natural sucrose, fructose and glucose to provide you with energy. Eating apples, grapes and cherries and also honey are also good home remedies for hangovers. If you've consumed more alcohol than you should, these hangover remedies might help get rid of it. But hangover prevention is always better than finding a hangover cure. There are also many negative effects of alcohol to your body and your health. Cures For Hangovers The Hangover Cure - An Elusive Foe Have you ever drunk a bit too much alcohol and woke up with a heavy head? Through the ages there have been nearly as many hangover remedies invented as there are varieties of mixed drinks. Unfortunately, most don't work. If you've made too many trips to the punch bowl, you'll be all too familiar with the pounding head, queasy stomach, dry mouth and other miserable symptoms that accompany a hangover. But even though people have been getting hangovers for thousands of years, doctors aren't sure exactly what they are or what's the best remedy. Hangover relief always seems to be just out of reach. However, a few time-tested hangover remedies seem to work for most revellers, most of the time. Exercising - Though it is often the last thing that a hung over person feels like doing, one of the best hangover remedies is physical exercise. This helps to get the blood circulating, carries needed oxygen to the brain and helps to rid the body of toxins, which contribute to a hangover. Try getting a little food in your tummy as well. In 2008, Discover Health decided to study which hangover remedies really helped. Turns out water and juice are definitely going to help, but so will eating eggs and bananas. Greasy food didn't bode as well, but if it makes you feel better, go for it. The hangover is truly an elusive foe. Even when drinkers know their own tolerances and limits, hangovers seem to strike with a great deal of inconsistency. Similarly, hangover remedies seem to work with varying efficacy. This is because the hangover is actually a very complicated biological phenomenon, which is affected by widely varying factors, including, physiology, the specific alcohol involved and even the drinker's emotional state. For an alternative hangover cure to consuming fresh fruit or fruit juice, the healing properties of fresh or dried herbs can help fortify your body as it recovers. Of all the herbs, two are best known as hangover remedies: milk thistle and angostura. You've probably seen angostura in the form of angostura bitters, a tiny brown paper-wrapped bottle behind nearly every bar. Angostura bitters are a bartender's best friend. A shake or two in hot water, club soda, ginger ale or lemon-lime soda soothes stomachs and helps re-hydrate. And milk thistle, also known as Silymarin, is known to protect liver cells from being infiltrated by toxins. Take milk thistle capsules before a night out to protect your liver and take another dose the next morning to help fortify a taxed immune system. Cures For Hangovers