How to Stop Your Hangover in Its Tracks
The answer is to drink, but not alcohol! Alcoholic drinks actually use up your body's water stores, causing dehydration. This in turn causes some hangover symptoms, so drinking water is a good start. Be careful because it is possible to drink too much water too fast. Large quantities of water can strip electrolytes from the body, so it is better to try to replace these as well, or keep to around a half liter of water per hour.
Sports drinks are one of the best ways to get you feeling human again. They will boost your blood sugar, rehydrate you, and provide the vital electrolytes (potassium, sodium etc) that you will have lost through the kidneys while you were drinking and during the night.
If you prefer not to have the refined sugar and additives that are in sports drinks, have plain water and eat bananas for potassium and fructose, or make a banana smoothie by putting a couple of bananas in the blender with a little water or milk. If you do not have bananas and cannot face going to the store right now, use apples or other sweet fruit (but not citrus), or even plain honey dissolved in water. Honey contains electrolytes too. The less refined your honey is, the better.
Feverfew is a well-known herbal remedy for headaches and can be taken in place of aspirin or other chemical painkillers. Raw persimmon and raw cabbage are also said to help with headaches. Since aspirin can damage the lining of the stomach, it's not the best solution for a sensitive morning-after digestive system.
Exercise will help your circulatory system to detoxify. Take a brisk half hour walk as soon as you are able.
The Next Time Around
Here are a few things that you can do before you go drinking to prevent the same thing happening next time around:
Drink water to prevent dehydration. The best rule is to have one glass of water between each alcoholic drink, but failing that, drink a couple of large glasses of water before you go to sleep.
Buy some Bifidus powder. This is friendly bacteria that detoxifies acetaldehyde, a byproduct of alcohol that is a major cause of hangover symptoms. One teaspoon in a large glass of water drunk before going to sleep should mean that you wake up hangover-free.
Foods high in unsaturated fats can reduce the effects of alcohol. American Indian lore says that six raw almonds eaten before drinking will stop you getting drunk. African tradition recommends peanut butter. Evening primrose oil is another option, especially for women who can benefit from taking it anyway. Take any of these before you start drinking to avoid having to search for home remedies for hangovers after your next night out!
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