How to deal with a hangover as healthily as possible!

I think most of us at some time in our lives has gone out, got completely wasted from too much alcohol and woken up the next morning wondering where the night has gone and will the torture of the hangover ever end!

While I don’t condone binge drinking, I know that we are all human and yep, we are going to go out with friends and party. Rather than chide, I thought it would be more beneficial to give you the causes of a hangover and how you can help yourself out more naturally than popping 2 panadol and making maccas run.

So what is a hangover? It is a collection of signs and symptoms linked after a recent bout of heavy drinking. 

Typical hangover symptoms include:

• Headache
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Lethargy, tiredness, fatigue,
• Anxiety, regret or embarrassment from the actions of the previous night
• Sensitivity to light and sounds
• Dizziness
• Bloodshot eyes
• Body and muscle aches
• Changed bowel motions, such as diarrhoea
• Dizziness
• Thirst
• Sleepiness
• Moodiness and irritability

If you have the following more severe signs and symptoms, you may have alcohol poisoning - this is a medical emergency (get medical help as soon as possible):

• Breathing loses its regular rhythm
• Breathing slows down to less than eight inhalations per minute
• Confusion or stupor. The patient is in a daze
• Fits (seizures)
• Hypothermia - body temperature drops
• The patient passes out (loses consciousness)
• The skin becomes pale, or takes on a blue tinge
• Vomiting continues and does not abate

The severity of a hangover can be closely linked with how much alcohol was consumed, what type of alcohol was consumed, how much sleep the person has had and how much water was drunk during the previous night. Most hangovers go away after 24 hours.

What causes a hangover?

A hangover is the consequence of having consumed too much alcohol - an accumulation of several factors:

• Urination - alcohol makes people urinate more, which raises the chances of dehydration occurring. Dehydration can give the individual that sensation of thirst, headaches and lightheadedness.
• Immune system response - there may be an inflammatory response by the immune system to alcohol, which may affect appetite, concentration and memory.
• Stomach irritation - alcohol consumption raises the production of stomach acids; it also slows down the rate at which the stomach empties itself - this combination can lead to nausea, vomiting or stomach ache.
• Drop in blood sugar - some people's blood sugar levels can fall steeply when they consume alcohol, resulting in shakiness, moodiness, tiredness, general weakness, and even seizures in some cases.
• Dilation of blood vessels - alcohol consumption can cause the blood vessels to dilate, which can cause headaches.
• Sleep quality - although sleeping when drunk is common, the quality of that sleep may be poor. The individual may wake up tired and still sleepy.
• Congeners - these are substances that are produced during fermentation and are responsible for most of the taste and aroma in distilled drinks (whiskey, gin, etc). They are known to contribute to symptoms of a hangover. Examples of congeners include esters and aldehydes.

How to reduce the risk of getting a hangover...

There is no immediate cure for a hangover. Thats the price you pay for putting too much alcohol through your body!

There are a couple of things you can do to help reduce the severity of your hangover before you go to sleep (if you can remember to do them!)

• Make sure you have a full stomach before you start drinking. An empty stomach causes the body to metabolise alcohol more quickly, which means you are more likely to feel drunk quicker!
• Between every alcoholic drink, opt for a non-alcoholic drink. Soda water with fresh lime or lemon can be very refreshing and the bitterness of the citrus helps your liver function. Avoid going for sugary drinks like coke or raspberry.
•  Avoid mixing drinks – many people find that if they have spirits, then they switch to beer or wine, they are more likely to have a hangover.
• Avoid the preservatives - Some beverages contain preservatives, which can cause negative reactions in the body. Champagne and sparkling wine is known to cause headaches. This is thought to be due to their sulphite contents.
• Avoid lolly water drinks! They contain large amounts of sugar which plays havoc on your blood glucose levels, not to mention artificial colours which can cause allergic reactions in some people. The amount of sugar also increases your thirst, which makes the drinks go down more easily and makes you go back for more quicker. If you are used to your sweet drinks, try cider, or vodka with soda water and fresh lime which gives you the bubbles.
• Know your limits – Your common sense tells you how much to enough to drink. If you have gone out and drunk before, you should know that 1-2 drinks an hour will keep you happy without being blind drunk, while a tequila shot, scotch and coke and a vodka sunrise all within the first half hour is pretty excessive. 
• Drink a tall glass of water before going to sleep. This reduces the risk of dehydration and waking up dizzy and ridiculously thirsty.

 How to help get rid of a hangover...

So you still ended up with a hangover?

•  Drink water through the day. Avoid overly sweet drinks, as these do not help hydrate your body. Coconut water is very hydrating and contains electrolytes which may have been depleted through sweat, over-urinating, vomiting and diarrhoea.
• Don’t have painkillers! Although it is very tempting to pop a couple of panadol to relieve your sore head, paracetemol in large amounts can be toxic on the liver (and more dangerous on a liver which is still detoxing alcohol!), while aspirin is not wise for a delicate stomach. No pain killers should be taken on an empty stomach, as this may cause irritation to your body.
• Avoid the maccas run! You have a hangover, your body craves greasy food. This is because your body is trying to balance blood glucose levels and wants sugars. The brain is also currently starved for fats to function properly. What to eat instead?
• Bland foods, such as dried crackers or bread with avocado or hommus dip are easy to digest
• Watermelon is an amazing hangover reducer! It is 98% water, so its hydrating and contains fructose sugars to help metabolise the alcohol.
• If you must have a greasy food, go for something less processed than maccas. A piece of grilled fish from a Fish & Chip shop not only gives you essential fatty acids, but also provides that “greasy food” craving.
• Rest – if you can get back to sleep, you will probably recover a bit faster. Otherwise, take it easy for the day. Lie down on the couch and watch some mindless TV or movies where you don’t need to think much. Keep a glass of water beside you at all times.
•  Vow never to drink that much again!