How To Cure Hangover & How To Prevent A Hangover Top Tips

Dec 14, 2021 Pain Relief

 

Had a little bit too much fun at the works Christmas do or family party and looking for a hangover quick fix? Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us and we’ve got you covered. 

Although we can’t promise you’ll never get a hangover again, and scientists are yet to find a definite answer to one of the most pressing questions ‘how to cure a hangover’, there are a number of tried and tested methods to help you relieve your hangover symptoms fast, as well as how to prevent a hangover, so your likelihood of having a bad hangover could be decreased. 

How To Cure A Hangover

Can you cure a hangover? Now, this varies from person to person, quantities drunk and so many more variables. However, there are a few well know, and even evidence-based hangover cures and hangover quick fixes. 

Food is fuel  

Woken up and not feeling so fresh? Refuel your system with a hearty breakfast that helps to maintain your blood sugar levels and rejuvenates your body with vitamins and minerals. 

Drinking large quantities of alcohol can deplete vitamins and minerals in our system. This can also throw off the balance of chemicals in our body causing metabolic acidosis which occurs when there is an increase in acidity. These changes to our chemical balances can be the cause of feelings of nausea, fatigue and vomiting. 

Reduce your hangover symptoms by providing your body with the nutrients it needs through a wholesome meal.

Some foods to try and stock up on include eggs, avocado, bacon/meat, spinach, banana, watermelon & fast-acting carbs such as crackers and full-sugar soft drinks. 

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate 

Hydration is key when it comes to hangover prevention, as well as making sure you don’t get too intoxicated. 

When you drink alcohol, there are multiple ways this can lead to dehydration. Alcohol has a diuretic effect which increases urination, leading to loss of fluid and electrolytes. Vomiting when drinking can also lead to dehydration and dehydration, on the whole, contributes to many hangover symptoms including headaches, dizziness and fatigue.

Water intake top tip: while drinking alcohol, alternate between an alcoholic drink and a glass of water and stay hydrated throughout the next day to reduce your hangover symptoms. It is also advised to make sure you rehydrate before going to sleep after you’ve been drinking.

Rest up 

Drinking alcohol can often lead to late nights, or disrupted and lack of sleep. Although a lack of sleep isn’t the cause of a hangover, it can lead to a worse hangover. Having a good night’s sleep can help alleviate or reduce symptoms like headaches, bad mood, and obviously fatigued.

Treat symptoms with painkillers

Common symptoms of hangovers include headaches and muscle cramps, particularly if you’re dehydrated or have been vomiting. Use painkillers such as ibuprofen and paracetamol as required (but ensuring to not exceed the recommended usage) to help alleviate these symptoms. 

Forget the ‘hair of the dog’ 

Medical and scientific experts agree that having an alcoholic drink to cure your hangover is completely stupid. Having a drink the morning after a heavy night of drinking doesn’t give your body enough time to recover and simply delays the inevitable bad hangover on the horizon, which could be worse than the hangover you had before. 

Try a rehydration medication

As we’ve established, drinking alcohol leads to dehydration and decreased electrolytes. Sports drinks and rehydration supplements can help rehydrate your system and speed up the hangover recovery process. Dioralyte sachets can help replace essential body water and salt that is lost during dehydration and replenish your body in no time.

Avoid herbal teas 

Herbal teas have been found to make your body process alcohol more slowly, so your hangover can last even longer. Avoid at all costs!

Consider inflammatory supplements

Hangover symptoms can also be put down to inflammation, caused by alcohol consumption therefore anti-inflammatory drugs have been proven quite effective against hangovers. Foods that are known for reducing inflammation such as plant-based foods and supplements are also effective for treating hangovers.

Ginger is also an effective anti-inflammatory supplement and antioxidant. 

How To Prevent A Hangover

We thought it made more sense to have this section after how to cure one, as you’re probably not thinking about how to prevent a future hangover, unless you’ve experienced the hangover of all hangovers. 

Choose alcoholic drinks with low to none congeners

Alcoholic drinks contain varying amounts of congeners which are toxic chemicals including methanol, isopentanol and acetone. Alcoholic drinks that contain higher levels of congeners, follow the pattern of causing more frequent hangovers and higher intensity hangovers. 

Drinks that contain high levels of congeners include whiskey, tequila and cognac. Alcoholic drinks containing low levels of congeners are vodka, gin and rum. Vodka contains no congeners at all whereas whiskey is particularly high.

So stick to vodka, gin or rum if you want to lower the risk of a particularly bad hangover. 

Avoid sugar before you hit the drinks

Alcohol is proven to cause inflammation, which is one of the things that is thought to go into creating a hangover. Sugar also causes inflammation, so try to avoid too much sugar before you go out and anything else that might cause inflammation. 

Opt for wine, beer or mixed drinks and avoid shots

While you’re out, it is wise to choose drinks that have low alcohol by volume (ABV) percentage. Choose to sip a beer, glass of wine or alcohol with a mixer as opposed to drinking it straight as alcoholic drinks with a high ABV percentage as these are known for causing worse hangovers.

Ignore anyone who says ‘eating is cheating’ 

No one wants to feel bloated before or going on a night out, but eating is probably the most important thing you can do before drinking any amount of alcohol. Drinking on an empty stomach is never a good idea as the alcohol is passed straight to your intestines and absorbed into the bloodstream a lot quicker. This firstly means you’ll get drunk a lot quicker (to reiterate, not a good idea) and means you’ll feel a lot worse the next day.

Pace yourself, and keep a track of how much you’re drinking

As well as a hangover, something that is even more feared, is embarrassment, guilt and not remembering. Also known as ‘hangxiety’ and ‘beer fear’, this can leave you feeling much worse the next day if you’ve blacked out and can’t quite remember how the evening ended. To avoid this, make sure you’re monitoring how much you’re drinking and drink in moderation. 

It’s important to be kind to yourself, everyone has had evenings they’ve had too much to drink and maybe said something they wish they hadn’t or overshared. Look after yourself the next day, surrounding yourself with friends, wholesome food, water and a good TV list. 

To conclude

As much as we wish there was. there is not one definitive answer to ‘how to cure a hangover?’, however, there are plenty of hangover quick-fix techniques to try as well as methods to try to prevent a hangover. 

When in doubt, drink water, eat food and take it a little easier, your body and bank account will be thanking you.