Top tips to prevent and cure hangovers.

Christmas is just around the corner as is the Christmas party and with it a large intake of festive spirit. Festive spirit of the alcohol variety! Not far behind is New Years Eve and inevitably more people drinking alcohol than at any other time of the year. It’s a good thing we have a day off afterwards. Bank holidays aren’t so much a rest for bank staff as a rest for drunk staff.

What are the symptoms of a hangover?

Most people who aren’t shy of alcohol have experienced the symptoms of a hangover the morning after the night before, i.e.:

• Your head hurts (migraine, headache).
• A butterfly landing on a petal sounds like a clap of thunder (sensitive to sound).
• You have stopped spinning to the music, the room hasn’t.
• You may feel nauseous (sick) and you may even vomit.
• You feel tired, drained of all energy and incapable of simple functions.
• You may feel shaky and get the shakes.
• Judgement is impaired.

This is why even though several hours may have passed between you drinking alcohol and waking up with a hang over, you shouldn’t drive. You are still very much under the influence of alcohol, whether you feel drunk or not.

In addition to all the hangover symptoms above, the phrase ‘never again’ will be uttered repeatedly while suffering hangover effects. But just as the symptoms of a hangover are short lived, so is this hangover promise!

How long do the effects of a hangover last?

How long a hangover lasts will of course depend on your own physiology, how much you drank, how much you’ve eaten and a whole host of other variables. My experience is that a hangover lasts at least half a day and full recovery isn’t felt until early evening.

How much do I have to drink before I get a hangover?

Some alcoholic drinks are more likely to result in a hangover than others. These are generally the darker coloured alcoholic drinks. For example Brandy may cause a worse hangover than Vodka and Red Wine a worse hangover than White Wine.

One reason is a thing called Cogners. Cogners add flavour and colour to alcoholic drinks. Hence the more flavoured and coloured the alcohol, the worse the hangover. On average though it is thought to be 3.2 drinks.

How do I prevent a hangover?

• Eat before you go out.  Greasy food apparently sticks to the stomach lining preventing the absorption of alcohol into the blood stream.

• Drink lots of water in between alcoholic drinks and afterwards before going to bed. Being hydrated is essential to avoid being sick and suffering headaches after drinking too much alcohol.

What are popular hangover cures?

• Hair of the dog

Some people believe that having more alcohol is the cure for a hangover. This remedy is commonly called ‘hair of the dog’. It is unlikely this will make you feel better. Some people drink a Bloody Mary (Vodka, tomato juice, spices and sauces) to cure their hangover.

• Greasy fry up

In the UK, we like to have a nice fat filled, greasy fry up to cure our hangovers. Greasy fry ups are more effective at preventing a hangover by eating it before drinking alcohol than by eating it afterwards.

Is there a hangover pill?

Some say that there is no better hangover prevention than RU-21 natural supplements and remedy for preventing hangovers.

RU-21 is a hangover pill that was developed by scientists at the Russian Academy of Science. Being hung over is taken pretty seriously by the Russians; they spent 25 years developing this hangover pill!

Finally…

If you don’t want your white Christmas epitomized by the colour of your pasty complexion the morning after, avoid the hangover!

Happy Christmas!