Showing posts with label Hangover. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hangover. Show all posts

Thursday, February 8, 2007

7 Ways Fighting a Hangover

The first step towards preserving your liver function should be taken before drinking. One should remember to begin your session with a good meal before drinking, and include plenty of complex carbohydrates to help combat hypoglyceamia later on. Make sure you balance the meal with some lean protein and vegetables to ensure you have good levels of minerals and antioxidants in circulation. At least this may appease you liver before the onslaught begins.

Alcohol is by nature dehydrating so fluid is of great importance at all times! Drink plenty of non-alcoholic fluid before, after and during you boozing session. Try to alternate alcoholic drinks with soft drinks. a lot of good old water before and during drinking. In the morning when a hangover hits, it is also the best thing to have. Sports drinks which are high in electrolytes may be helpful in replenishing what the kidneys have excreted during the night and should be taken before sleeping.

There are many myths and fallacies about how to cure or prevent a hangover, with little science to back it up. However here are a few ideas that may help to ease your pain and complement a liver health supplement.

It is thought that fructose may be important in assisting a hangover cure. This is the sugar found in fruit and fruit products. Take your pick from bananas, apples, mango etc. if your stomach is queasy you may want too avoid anything to acidic like grapefruit and kiwis. A banana milkshake sweetened with honey may calm the stomach, top up low blood sugar levels as well as some of our electrolyte levels.. The milk soothes the stomach and rehydrates the system and may assist with hangover symptoms. Bananas replace important electrolytes, magnesium and potassium.

Ginger tea, chicken soup, an egg-based breakfast and tomato juice ( in the guise of a Bloody Mary) are all said to help in curing a hangover. It would seem that everyone has there own particular approach. It is likely that including some lightl protein sources and complex carbohydrates are going to help with topping your B vitamins - try a poached egg on whole grain bread with spinach or a fruit smoothie with yoghurt and oatmeal.

Schisandra fruit extract may also be helpful in the treatment of hangover. There is evidence which indicates that it improve concentration, coordination, and endurance Although most of the experiment have been carried out in animals, they have suggested that extracts of the fruit have a liver-protective effect, a helpful effect on some liver enzymes, and an antioxidant effect. Schisandra is also rich in Vitamin C and E,

Milk thistle is frequently cited as a hangover remedy and there does appear to be some supporting evidence in the literature. Trials have indicated that it may be beneficial for decreasing mortality and improving liver function tests in patients with alcoholic liver disease. More conclusive research is needed to confirm its role however.

Finally, a bit of exercise may help to clear your head. It should increases the blood flow, and let blood and oxygen into the oxygen-starved brain. A shower might just do the trick - make sure it’s not too hot as this can contribute to the dehydration. Of course a few headache pills may be beneficial but if your stomach is feeling a little delicate try Nux vomica, a homeopathic medicine, helps relieve gas, bloating and nausea. Of course, the best advice of all would be not to drink at all and preserve your liver health!

Hangovers: Beer for remedies

Saturday, December 30, 2006

20 Ways to Kill Your Hangover

Hangovers suck, and it’s your own stupid fault when they suck like they do. Stop wallowing in self pity, print this out, and start checking items off. Some of these are more effective than others. Some are preventative and some are after the fact treatment. Either way, it’s something to think about next time you go out. Or maybe it’s something to read since you just called in to work and are hugging a trash can while you check your email this morning, lush.

  1. Drink Buttermilk. (ughhh) It will calm you stomach and add badly needed liquid into your system. That is, if you can keep buttermilk down hungover.
  2. Reduce the amount of sugar you consume while drinking. The boosted metabolism of sugar AND alcohol will accelerate the depletion of B vitamins and make your hangover worse.
  3. Coffee/Caffeine. This will enhance the effectiveness of analgesics (aspirin and similar) and the stimulating effects will banish many symptoms of a hangover.
  4. Have sex. First of all: easier said than done hungover. Second of all: oh, wait, ’sounds good other than that first thing. This gets your blood pumping and will release endorphins which are natural painkillers and mood-enhancers. See exercise below.
  5. Drinking Coke or Pepsi. (The “Black Aspirin” or “Red Ambulance”) the caffeine, bubbles and sugar can be easier to hold down than pure water (or buttermilk). Sugar partially compensates the inhibition of the gluconeogenesis.
  6. Oscillating in water between extreme cold and hot temperatures. This practice has no effect on the hangover and can be dangerous. See The Princess Bride.
  7. Eating some Asparagus before bed. Asparagus is a diuretic and these only compound the problem.
  8. Eating whole jalapeƱos. This will certainly wake you up.
  9. Pedialyte. This contains more electrolytes than almost any over-the-counter drug. This will help you re-hydrate your body as quickly as possible.
  10. Eating mineral-rich foods, like pickles or canned fish.See buttermilk, above. Gross.
  11. Drinking pickle juice, the solution in which cucumbers were pickled, in the morning (a staple hangover remedy in Russia and Poland). It is sometimes suggested to add honey to the solution.
  12. Instant chicken or vegetable soup provides salt, proteins and electrolytes which help soften hangover symptoms. It also adds liquid to your system.
  13. Taking ibuprofen before sleeping can supposedly reduce hangover effects dramatically; however, mixing ibuprofen and alcohol can cause stomach irritation and bleeding, and is highly recommended against. The adverse effects of alcohol are amplified when ibuprofen, which also can cause trouble with the liver, is taken with it. In fact, most medicines should not be taken with alcohol, so it is best to consult a medical professional before using this supposed “remedy”.
  14. Sleep. This one’s my favorite. Some people argue that sleep only prolongs the negative effects of alcohol due to slower metabolism while asleep. However, one doesn’t notice the negative effects of the hangover while asleep, which suits me just fine.
  15. Exercise. Exercise can be painful with a hangover, but is usually very effective. It increases blood flow to the entire body, especially the head, and induces sweating, which helps the body purge alcohol. The feeling of lethargy dissipates and there is a strong mental and emotional effect (endorphins) where mood will improve.
  16. Cysteine, which is available as the over-the-counter supplement N-acetylcysteine (NAC), is known to assist in processing acetaldehyde, best taken while already drinking and/or before going to bed. (Egg yolk is also rich in cysteine, and it is notable that many hangover folk remedies or morning-after breakfasts incorporate eggs. Red-eye anyone?)
  17. “The hair of the dog”. a.k.a. drink more. Well liked and effective, but this is more of a procrastination tactic, as a hangover is basically alcohol withdraw and you’re just prolonging your inebriation.
  18. Midnight feast. This is another fave of yours truly. get stuffed before you go to bed. Almost all foods contain some liquid and nutrients. (Even if it’s Taco Hell, a favorite of the drunximus outlateicus.)
  19. Tag team your drinks with water. I’m not kidding. if you’re getting a drink at the bar order an ice water with it. As soon as the bar keep brings you your drinks chug the water, set the empty glass on the bar and walk off with your drink.
  20. Stick 13 pins into the cork of the offending bottle. Hey, it works for Haitians.