Hangover ‘Cures’ To Avoid...And One That Actually Works

It’s the party season, and with the joyful upside comes the dreaded hangover danger zone. This is often the body’s revenge for a fun night out drinking, when it is letting you know that you are dehydrated and have an overload of toxins in your system. Hopefully most of the time the ill effects will wear off in a day or two.

 

However, in the meantime the hangover can feel like a very raw deal, and cause us to make ill-fated resolutions never to touch the booze again. You may be suffering from a pounding headache, a dry mouth, fatigue, and a general feeling of mild melancholy or anxiety. 

 

Being hungover not only feels unpleasant, but it can also impair your decision making, so it’s best not to tackle any important work or tasks until you are back to your usual self again. It can be tempting to try to cure your hangover with some quirky hacks you may have heard from mates or seen floating around online.  Here’s a quick myth-busting session!

 

Hair of the dog

Some people swear that having vodka or a ‘recovery beer’ for breakfast counteracts the effects of the alcohol drunk the night before. It may temporarily con you into feeling better, but soon you’ll start to feel a whole lot worse and take much longer to recover.

 

Rubbing lemon juice under your armpits

In some cultures it’s common to rub a slice of lemon under your armpits before going to bed. Apparently, the vitamin C and other healthy properties in the citrus juice is absorbed through the sweat glands and enters the bloodstream, helping to rehydrate and flush out the system. Unfortunately there’s no evidence that this really works.

 

Drinking tomato juice and raw eggs

Besides not sounding very appetising, drinking raw eggs carries the risk of salmonella poisoning so this one is best avoided. Tomato juice may be more beneficial, but again not to everyone’s taste. 

 

Cooked eggs might be more helpful to provide you with a dose of protein and amino acids.

 

Black coffee

Black coffee might help you to feel a little less fuzzy around the edges, but it can also act as a diuretic, meaning that any fluids you absorb will be expelled through more frequent trips to the loo. Ultimately, this will just make your throbbing head feel worse and when the caffeine buzz has worn off you will feel even more tired.

 

And one hangover cure that will actually work…

The source of your fatigue and bad head is dehydration, so the simple remedy for this is to drink plain water with no sugar or caffeine added to it. To supercharge the effect, try adding an electrolyte tablet to your water.

 

This will not only help the body rehydrate faster, but it will also replenish some of those essential vitamins and minerals, including magnesium, calcium, and sodium. This is doubly important if your hangover has been accompanied by a regrettable vomiting incident…