It’s that time of year again when it happens to us more than usual. It’s so easy to get carried away. You open your eyes after a heavy night: your throbbing head, dry mouth and that quick dash to the bathroom tell you that yes, you had too much to drink. Again. We all know the best cure for a hangover is not to drink in the first place, but what if there was a way to drink without getting hungover? I like to call it “damage limitation”.
The best place to start is water – one of the main reasons for a hangover is dehydration. Alcohol is a diuretic which, simply put, means it speeds the loss of water from the body – causing that parched-mouth thirst, headaches and that feeling of continual dizziness. Your unsettled stomach is actually caused by the direct action of alcohol irritating the stomach lining. So if you drink at least as much water as you do alcohol, you’re off to a good start. Lots of water just before going to bed is also a good plan.
What you drink can also make a difference. Most people find they suffer far worse headaches from red wines than white, from whisky than vodka. There’s a scientific reason for this: headaches are caused by a reaction to certain chemical substances called congeners, which magnify the effects of a hangover and irritate the stomach lining. There are more congeners in darker alcohols, so that’s why white wines and clear spirits such as vodka are said to cause fewer hangovers.
As many of you already know, a sure-fire way of making your hangover worse is to mixing drinks. Mixing grape and grain (i.e. wine and whisky or other spirits) is not a good idea. It’s not unusual to hangover on your final drink, say something like sambuca, failing to mention the gin and tonic, champagne, white and red wine that you’ve had before.
One nutritional supplement that’s worthy of mention here is the antioxidant herb milk thistle. It works by protecting the tissues of the liver (due to its ability to deal with highly reactive oxygen molecules or free radicals). As to how much you should take, the usual therapeutic range is 200 mg to 600 mg a day. Most of my patients find that taking 300 mg before and after an evening out makes a huge difference to how they feel the next morning.
Remember, the effects of a hangover only last about 24 hours. So be patient – you’ll soon feel better and ready to do it all again! BY DAILY NATION
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