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Heal that hangover!

Posted On Friday, December 11, 2009 at 11:09:43 PM

You had the best of intentions, but your host kept filling your glass and you completely lost track of how many you had. Does this sound familiar?

However, you do well remember the last time when you threw up for doing the same at your best friend’s party. It turned out to be embarrassing because you had actually thrown up in front of the girl you had your eyes on.

Now it is morning and the whirring of the fan sounds like a chainsaw in your head. Your mouth has gone dry, and the last time you felt this nauseous was when you had contracted jaundice.

Why do we get hangovers?
We get them because of high levels of alcohol in the bloodstream. What’s more, around 95 per cent of that alcohol is broken down in the liver.

Whatever is left in the system is excreted through sweat and urine. But when our intake is more than the output, the excess flows into our bloodstream.

The longer it remains there, the stronger the chances of a hangover. The liver takes about an hour to metabolise a full glass of wine or a large beer.

This is guided by our age, sex and weight. A mild hangover can be felt as quickly as an hour after the last drink was consumed, but the worst symptoms strike only eight to 10 hours later and can last up to the next 24 hours.

Our body responds to it as if it has been mildly poisoned — which is why we feel the dizziness, headache, dehydration and heartburn. Being diuretic, it dehydrates you.

Too much alcohol can deplete you of vitamins and minerals and play havoc with the blood sugar levels.

How to come out of it?
Drink lots of water. This not only dilutes the alcohol in your blood but also rehydrates you.

The more it is flushed out of your body, the better it is. Caution: Don’t have coffee.

Exercise a bit. Eat a lot even if you don’t feel like.

If you are feeling nauseous, keep nibbling. Rest as much as you can.

You could take a couple of aspirins for the headache. Sleep it over. It’s just a phase that will pass.

However, the only real cure for hangover is prevention. As a matter of fact, there are no real remedies for a hangover.

How to prevent it?
Never drink on an empty stomach. Always drink slowly, sipping it rather than gulping it down.

Never drink it because you’re thirsty, as it dehydrates further. Space out your drinks — keep diluting them by taking fruit juices or soda water in between.

Don’t ever mix your drinks. This makes the hangovers even worse.

Set a limit on your drinks and stick to it.

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