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.
