Hang up your Hangover

Another drink anyone?

Now today I went for the classic cure, a fry up in a greasy spoon and while I do feel remarkably better I’m still unconvinced about how good this actually is for a body already flowing with poisonous substances. We are all familiar with the symptoms of a hangover: nausea, fatigue, dizziness, headache and not to forget the beer squirrel that’s taken up residency in your mouth overnight. But to address the solution to these symptoms, I think we need to start with the causes.

Well it’s obviously drinking too much, but what actually is a hangover? A hangover is caused by a combination of the toxic by-product of alcohol metabolism (acetaldehyde), dehydration, and Vitamin A, B and C depletion caused by the chemical action of alcohol on your system. With the added factor that alcohol is a depressant so your nerves will be responding to this, and you have also flushed a considerable amount of vitamins and nutrients from your body causing metabolic shock, no wonder it feels like you’re never going to walk again.

Eurghhhh...

Really the only way to tackle all of these symptoms is not to drink copious amount of alcohol in the first place, but as I well know, this is not always as easy as it sounds. But there are a number of ‘cures’ that can restore vitality and life back into that dried up shell that yesterday was your body. There is no one remedy that will tackle all of the symptoms and obviously the hangover will last until all the alcohol is out of your system but here are few helpful hints to get you back on your feet and on the way to a fully formed person ready for the next tirade of alcohol abuse.

• Berocca - Puts the vitamin B back in, and the big glass of water it's mixed with does wonders to help with dehydration. This is most effective if you take it before you actually go out, but if you forget, it will still help the morning after.

• Coke - Fizz for the nausea, liquid for the dehydration, and a caffeine and sugar hit to make you feel a bit livelier. (My personal favourite)

• Coffee - Same as Coke but without the bubbles to help ease the nausea. Try it with honey instead of sugar since the fructose is absorbed quicker than the sucrose in normal sugar, and it's better for you.

• Ginseng - It's been noted that since caffeine is a diuretic like alcohol, it can actually make the dehydration worse, so try the herbal equivalent instead.

• Marmite On Toast - Something in your stomach is good, and salty is even better. Plus you get a Vitamin B top up. The same reasons also make peanut butter a good choice, but the oily nature might make some sensitive stomachs feel a bit uneasy. If you do try this one, skip the butter and just have dry toast.

• Painkillers – There’s a whole range out there and some are designed especially to help you recover from the effects of alcohol, such as Alka-Seltzer and Resolve. These are both aspirin based which is the best drug to tackle alcohol induced headaches. While these tackle the issue of pain, they do nothing for the levels of alcohol in your body so keep taking on lots of fluids to flush it through your system.

• Bananas - Sugar in the form of fructose, and potassium, which is one of the things you lose lots of when you drink. Bananas are also a natural antacid to help with the nausea, and are high in magnesium which can help relax those pounding blood vessels causing that hangover headache.

• Vitamin C - Another thing the alcohol takes out that you're advised to put back in as soon as possible. Orange juice, tomato, Vitamin C tablets –it doesn't matter in what form you get it, as long as you do!

• A Hot Bath - The heat will sweat out the toxins that are causing all the problems. You'll feel a bit woozy at first but stick with it and you'll feel better afterwards.

Well my boozed up students I hope some of those help you with your next post Ziggys feeling of death, and next week we’ll get back on the bandwagon of investigating the best way to a healthy lifestyle in York.