Well,
you partied from sundown to sunup, and now you're paying the price. You've got
the pounding headache, the queasiness, the dizziness, the sensitivity to light
and sound, the muscle aches and the irritability that comes from over
consumption of alcoholic beverages. How quickly last night's fun turns into
next morning's nightmare when you have a hangover!
Although
we don't like to think of it as such, especially when we're having such a good
time, alcohol is actually a drug.
It's a depressant, and when taken in excess, it fills your body with toxins.
Your body reacts as it would to any drug overdose: It tries to metabolize and
get rid of the offending substances.
The
best way to prevent a hangover is, of course, drinking in moderation or
abstaining from alcohol. But keeping yourself well-hydrated and well-nourished
when you're drinking can go a long way toward minimizing the morning-after
symptoms.
The
best cure for a hangover: time. Of course, people ignore prevention and don't
have "time" for the cure.
So,
here are some remedies to ease the suffering for those who have had one drink
too many.
Home remedies to overcome a hangover
Lemon
Lemon
juice or lemon tea is a popular home remedy for hangovers. It helps to assimilate
alcohol and provides instant relief. The best trait of lemon is that it makes a
gentle medicine that can be taken on a possibly upset stomach.
Prepare
lemon-tea, but do not add sugar to it. Lemon -rich tea detoxifies the stomach
of unwanted materials. On the other hand, fresh lemon juice prepared in cold
water with little sugar also gives fast relief. This drink controls the sugar
level in the blood after an excess intake of alcohol.
Ginger
Ginger
is a tried and tested treatment for nausea and seasickness. And that's why it
is considered as one of the best home remedies for a hangover. Ginger gives
fast relief by assisting in the digestion of alcohol, thus soothing the
stomach.
Chewing
2-3 small pieces of ginger or taking a cup of ginger tea lends fast relief. In
addition, you can prepare a brew by boiling 10 to 12 slices of fresh ginger
root in 4 cups of water for ten minutes. Now, add the juice of one orange, 1/2
lemon and 1/2 cup of honey to it. This concoction helps stabilise blood sugar,
which is usually low after alcohol consumption.
Apples
and bananas
Eating
raw fruits or having a fresh and crunchy fruit salad is an effective way of
treating hangovers. Apples and bananas in particular work as effective hangover
cures.
In
case of a headache, having an apple on an empty stomach lends fast relief. A
banana shake with a tablespoon of honey is a good option. It not only relaxes
your stomach and nerves but the honey present in the fruit shake resumes the
lost blood-sugar, while the banana helps in regaining essential minerals like
potassium, which the body loses due to alcohol.
Honey
Honey
is one of the simplest and easily available home remedies. It has potent powers
to neutralise the harmful effects of alcohol, thanks to the presence of
fructose, which competes with the metabolism of alcohol. Honey also helps in
the digestion of alcohol inside a person's body.
Taking
3-4 teaspoons of honey after an interval of one hour helps in digesting
alcohol. However, the quantity of honey maybe increased if the hangover is
acute and severe. You can also prepare a classic 'hot-toddy' with honey. Just
boil one cup of water, add honey and lemon juice to taste and its ready! This
hot toddy works well to treat a hangover. At the same time it is easy to make
and tasty. You can enjoy the toddy several times in a day as it replenishes
fluids and sugar lost in a hangover.
Lime
Lime
is the answer to queasiness, dizziness, sensitivity to light and sound and all
kinds of muscle aches caused due to excessive alcohol intake. It offers vitamin
C which stabilises your blood sugar levels.
As
soon as you wake up, prepare a mixture of two teaspoons of lime water, a
teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 cup of water. Drink it slowly and it will stabilise
the blood sugar.
Peppermint
Peppermint
is a very helpful herb. Consume with your tea or chew it as this relaxes the
intestines. Peppermint is a carminative, which is a substance that removes
accumulated gas from the stomach and intestines.
Patients
suffering from a hangover should be given 3-5 leaves of peppermint. You can
also use it as tea by pouring one cup of boiling water over 1-2 teaspoons of
the dried herb or 5-10 leaves of peppermint. One or two cups of this
preparation will do the trick.
Tomato
Tomato
juice contains fructose, a type of sugar that helps your body metabolise
alcohol faster. This is why dehydration caused due to a hangover can be
compensated by taking freshly prepared tomato juice or soup.
The
sour taste of tomato has a great effect in curing hangover. You can prepare
tomato juice and add fresh lemon juice to it for fast relief.
Cabbage
The
ancient Greeks and Romans placed great importance on the healing powers of
cabbage. They would eat large quantities of cabbage at night before drinking,
as this would allow them to drink more alcoholic beverages without feeling the
side effects. Perhaps this is why many consider cabbage with vinegar a good
hangover remedy.
Chewing
raw cabbage helps treat headaches and disturbance in the nerves caused due to a
hangover. Cabbage juice taken with tomato juice works wonders as it reduces the
craving for alcohol and also helps in metabolism.
Rice,
Toast or Soup
Food is probably the last thing you want to
look at while recovering, but you do need some sustenance for energy. Stay with
clear liquids until you can tolerate something solid. Then start off slowly
with mild, easy-to-digest foods such as plain toast, rice or clear soup.
Do's and Don'ts of Drinking
Make sure you never take
alcohol on an empty stomach. Always eat something before or while you are
enjoying your drinks as this will not only slow down the rate at which alcohol
enters your blood, but will also reduce the after-effects.
Try to alternate between an
alcoholic drink and a non-alcoholic beverage. This will lead to an overall
reduction in the quantity of alcohol you consume.
Prefer clear alcohol, such as
white wine, vodka, gin etc. It is believed that the darker the alcoholic drink,
the more likely it is to cause hangovers, thanks to the presence of more
congeners (a substance in alcohol that is supposed to cause headaches).
Avoid sweet and sugary foods
after or while you drink. Sweet taste makes it tough for the drinker to judge
how much alcohol he/she is actually consuming. It also believed that sugar
makes the drink hit you harder.
Try not to have a carbonated
drink with alcohol as carbonation speeds up the alcohol absorption.
Drinking water is the best cure
for a hangover. So try to drink as much water as you can while you are
drinking.
The morning after the alcoholic
binge, have omelette with bread. Eggs provide energy to the body, build up the
protein content and remove the accumulated toxins in the body.
Juice, especially freshly
squeezed orange juice, helps raising your blood sugar levels together with
easing some of the hangover symptoms. However, if your stomach is upset, skip
acidic juices such as orange juice and stick to apple juice instead.
An antacid or Pepto-Bismol is
taken to relieve queasiness and settle your stomach. You can even take a multivitamin
or vitamin B capsules that help restoring the energy lost during your night of
carousing.
Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary
measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article.
Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility
lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.
This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT
INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice
of your own doctor.
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