- If you’re planning on drinking alcohol tomorrow night, read this
- How to reduce the misery of a hangover
- Three non alcoholic cocktails that also have health benefits
So, here’s a hangover remedy or two…
But, before I get complaints…
This is NOT me advocating for alcohol abuse on New Year’s Eve.
But I know that many readers will enjoy one too many drinks tomorrow night – and so I hope these tips help mitigate against the worst hangover.
And for the non-drinking readers, I’ve got some tips on switching sugary soft drinks for health-boosting non-alcoholic cocktails.
First, let’s address those who are up for a tipple…
If you aren’t a seasoned drinker, then it’s highly likely you’ll have a hangover on New Year’s Day.
This might include a queasy stomach, sweating, anxiety, irritability, and poor concentration.
But the age old questions is…
Does a genuine hangover remedy exist?
Every culture seems to have some kind of folk hangover remedy for over-indulgence in alcohol:
In Germany, there’s a cure that requires you to eat a plate of rollmops – raw, pickled herring rolled around bits of gherkin.
Indigenous Australians grind up dried green ants and soak them in hot water to make a tea.
In Ancient Rome, Pliny the Elder recommended frying a canary and eating it whole.
In Haiti, some people who practice Voodoo stick 13 black-headed pins into the cork of the bottle from which they drank the night before.
And in the USA, a popular cure is known as the “Prairie Oyster” – basically a whole raw egg with loads of spicy additions (tobacco, pepper, hot sauce).
But the truth is, hangover cures taken the day after drinking generally don’t work.
For example, the most popular is the ‘hair of the dog’ when you have another alcoholic drink the following day – like a Bloody Mary for breakfast, for example.
Dr. Daniel K. Hall-Flavin, an addiction psychiatry specialist at the Mayo Clinic, says that the hair of the dog has a “numbing effect, but all you’re doing is prolonging the inevitable, and it will likely make your headache worse.”
However, there are some things you can do BEFORE you drink, and then you might not need a hangover remedy.
That is, to get some of these nutrients into your stomach, then into your bloodstream tomorrow before the festivities begin:Of course, hangovers are more than headaches. It can ruin your day and make life quite simply awful.
So if you do enjoy the occasional night out, or have a big event coming up like a work do, wedding, or Christmas party then read this:
The Only Genuine Way to Prevent a Terrible Hangover
It reveals a way you can prevent or reduce headaches, nausea and fatigue the next morning…
BUT it has nothing to do with a “hangover cure”. It’s not about what you take the next day.
It’s all about what you do BEFORE you drink
Bioflavonoids – Antioxidants that neutralise free radicals, improving immunity and reducing inflammation, found in fresh fruits, vegetables herbs, spices, beans, nuts and seeds.
Milk Thistle – Restores the liver and sustains liver cell membranes.
Vitamin C – Boosts liver enzymes to break down alcohol more efficiently.
Magnesium – Assists enzyme function.
Potassium – May prevent electrolyte imbalances associated with drinking alcohol.
Fibre and protein – Eating something full of fibre and protein, like oats, will ease the effects of alcohol. You could also try chia seeds.
Omega 3s – Animal research studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids could help reduce symptoms including inflammation in the brain caused by binge drinking.
Another tip that works for me is to have a small glass of water between each drink of the evening – it keeps you hydrated and prevents many of the symptoms of a hangover the next day.
If you don’t drink alcohol, then this next bit is for you.
You could make tomorrow night a fairly healthy one if you switch sugary drinks like Coke and lemonade for these three ideas…
Three non-alcoholic cocktails with health benefits
Kombucha makes for a really healthy drink without the sugar, as it’s made from green tea and a ‘symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast’, or ‘scoby’ for short.
It can also be an amazing hangover remedy, this is how to use it.
You add the scoby to sugar, filtered water and green tea. The sugar is converted into ethanol and acetic acids to make a naturally fizzy drink packed with antioxidants and probiotic bacteria, which can help balance your gut flora.
Of course, you can simply buy kombucha from the shops, then add your own ingredients to make a cocktail – ginger, lemon, lime, honey – whatever you like!
Another option is to make your own booze-free mulled apple drink.
Simmer some fresh apple juice with strips of orange peel, cinnamon and cloves for ten minutes then sweeten to taste.
Or here’s an excellent drink that gives you the benefits of green tea…
First, you need to buy some non-alcoholic gin (supermarkets sell them and will be open today!).
You then need some matcha green tea powder, along with some lime or lemon juice and a natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup.
Make the frothy green matcha tea first, blending it with a whisk.
Then add it to the other ingredients inside a cocktail shaker and mix!
Finally, serve your cool-looking green drink in a fancy cocktail glass with a mint garnish!
Anyway, there’s no reason to spend New Year’s Eve clutching a sugary fizzy pop drink when you could have something more interesting that ALSO has a cheeky health kick on the side…
And no hangover the next day, of course!
