Despite giving it my best shot in college and grad school, I’ve never amounted to much of a drinker.
I always wish I could just enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, a brewski after a long run, or a Cosmo or Bellini at a swanky lounge. But if I as much as think of drinking, I sober up to the pain of my last hangover come back to haunt me. In addition to the nausea and vomiting, I think about all the mental anguish associated with “Where did all my money go?”, “I did what?”, “What time did we leave?”, or “How did I get home?”
My friends, several of whom are California wine snobs or Manhattan ladies who lounge, tell me I just need hangover helpers. Jane says a packet of Emergen-C before a night out works for her; Sheila says that I need to drink more expensive red wines; Beth is, well, Irish; and Bo says I need Gatorade because the potassium helps when you have to puke.
Their cures sounded so improbable that I decided to do more research into the topic. I googled “hangover remedy” and "hangover helper” and found more than 175,000 sites devoted to pills, powders, and all manner of strange remedies and concoctions to help prevent or treat hangovers. That’s not surprising since the majority of us will experience a hangover at some point, and hangover headache—which occurs typically when blood alcohol levels return to normal levels the morning after a night of drinking—are, according to some research, the most common type of headache.
My sobering conclusion came when a colleague reminded me of a comprehensive review of hangover cure studies conducted by British scientists and published in the reputable British Medical Journal in 2005 The researchers turned up more than 300,000 websites claiming to offer hangover cures, then conducted a thorough review of medical literature, uncovering only 15 trials that tested whether hangover remedies worked. Of those studies, none had a large enough sample size or sufficient scientific rigor to yield any useful results.
Over the holidays roughly eight in 10 of us imbibed and many woke with at least an alcohol-induced headache. Next time see if one of these hangover remedies does the trick.
• Avoid red wine (especially cheap ones), and dark liquors (whiskey, dark rum, brandy) contain chemicals called congeners, which contribute to hangovers in many people. White wines, gin, and vodka may be better tolerated.
• Try honey. Honey contains fructose, which may help metabolize alcohol, and its B vitamins may be helpful.
• Drinking a lot of water or fluids that have minerals and electrolytes such as Gatorade or broth will also help to alleviate the dehydration associated with alcohol.
• Try a cup of coffee, tea, or other caffeinated beverage. Caffeine may help alleviate headache.
• Take an ibuprofen and sleep it off.
Comments (22)
Great article..one thing that I use to combat a bad hangover is a product called Oxy-Powder. This stuff works really well as it flushes out toxins out of your system w/o causing harm to your digestive tract.
I have done this several times and felt great the next morning when I woke up. The problem is remembering when you get home from a long night out. Advil to avoid the morning headache and two Tums(or other antacid) to avoid the upset stomach the next day. I wake up feeling great if I can remember to take them.
Taking B12 before you start drinking and then again before you go to bed. Carry it in a little baggie or your purse if you have the bottle of B12.
Eggs Benedict the morning after, with a side of bacon. I remember drinking Goslings 151 with friends on the last night of an Outer Banks vacation, and waking up wishing I were dead. Friend was a chef and after a crawl to the kitchen table I revived, packed, and drove the whole way home.
In reference to the tip promoting ibuprofen before sleeping: wouldn’t it be too hard on the liver to metabolize a drug while also clearing alcohol from the bloodstream?
Laurel- you are probably thinking of Tylenol. Ibuprofen can be damaging to the stomach and intestinal lining if taken on an empty stomach, but is not as toxic to the liver as Tylenol.
The comment about taking Tylenol vs. Ibuprofen, mistakenly assumed that the writer suggested to take the drug at night. You should not take any OTC meds with alcohol the evening of drinking. This will only delay the processing of alcohol in your system, because both the drugs and alcohol are considered toxins. Keep in mind to never take sleeping pills with any pain medication. It’s a deadly mix.
Best advice. For every alcoholic drink, consume one non-alcoholic drink.
I know a doctor who swore by taking a stong ibuprofen pill before drinking and proclaimed he never got a hangover or headache. Recently, he went to the EMR and had a lengthy section of his large intestine removed and now excretes through a colostomy. I don’t think Tylenol is a good idea either. Maybe you should sip wine and have a glass of water on hand to alternate between sips. Having lots of food with your beverage is a good idea, too. I’ve also found that going to bed drunk is a bad idea (unless you have company in the same situation). Try to stay awake until you sober up a bit. I speak from experience! CW
As long as the nuts aren’t peanuts, because they will trigger the idea of an alcoholic drink.
I add some water to my wine like they used to in Biblical times and like the Romans did.
I rarely notice my body telling me I’m thirsty, but when I do I usually want a gin and tonic if it’s in the evening. Of course tonic water is very refreshing and I don’t put much gin in – just enough to take the edge off the tonic water. It’s somehow the whole experience that matters to me more than the alcohol content. It’s the idea and the chink of ice on the glass – but then I’m very theatrical – lol.
Milk Thistle is the stuff for hangovers. It detoxifies the liver and is very good for curing constipation too.
Execdrin Migraine works for me if I have had one too many. It is good not to mix drinks and eating is always a good idea.
I swear by taking charcoal tablets or pills, which can be bought for about $6 bottle at GNC or similar stores. Charcoal pills are essentially what the rest of the hangover pills are actually made of (only not sold for $10 a piece). Charcoal helps to habsorb the alcohol as you are drinking it, and it is not absorbed as much into the bloodstream. I suggest taking two or three when you start drinking, and if drinking for more than several hours, take a couple more halfway through the evening. I hand them out to my friends and they always thank me for them the next day!
There is a product they sell at my college (Texas Tech) called THC The Hangover Cure, or THC. Love the name. Anyway, THC works really well, we keep some in our frat house too.
Yeah, the site is http://www.the-hangover-cure.com pretty funny, kinda stupid though. But the stuff works, just mix with water.
Do they sell THC Hangover Cure in Michigan?
Not sure, I know it is based in Texas. Just ask them. It might be national, can’t really tell. I just drink it!
Cool, thanks! I will check it out for sure
Hangover Cure link.
Use the things that suit you best because we all are different .
THC Hangover Cure works okay. But nothing else out there really works so that would be my recommendation by default, because you actually do feel better than you should in the morning. Not 100% but better.
http://www.drinkthc.com is the site. And no, I do not work for them, I just like to drink a lot and they don’t sell it locally where I live so I have to go online.
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