The Elusive Hangover Cure

If you have ever had a hangover, you probably do not want to repeat the experience. This leads the avid drinker on the search for the ever elusive hangover cure. Unfortunately, there are plenty of remedies and no real cures to be found – and plenty of ideas that are just plain crazy.

The problem with hangovers is that they can sneak up on you without warning. Even if you are an experienced drinker, you may still find yourself facing a hangover in the morning. Because of this, it is hard to find one hangover cure that will work for every single person. So, it is hard to imagine that there will ever be a one-size-fits-all hangover cure. However, if you know the factors that affect a hangover, you can help to keep yours to a minimum.

Amazingly enough there has not been a whole lot of scientific research done on the subject of hangovers to find out the precise reasons why we get them. This also means that it is hard to come up with a scientifically based cure.

In order to decide which hangover remedies will actually work for you, you need to have some understanding as to the causes behind a hangover. When you drink, you are more or less poisoning yourself. The hangover is the result of your body trying to eliminate the toxins from the alcohol.

While dehydration is a big contributor to the pain of hangovers, it is not the only one. Congeners, the toxins found in alcohol due to fermentation, are also a major contributor. So in order to prevent a hangover, you want to try and limit the amount of congeners you take in by sticking to light, highly refined alcohols.

Having a full stomach slows the absorption of alcohol, but not in the way most people think. Instead of the food itself absorbing the alcohol, a sphincter is closed to keep the food in the stomach so that it can be digested. This traps the alcohol, and it can be neutralized by your digestive enzymes before it gets anywhere near your liver.

Use caution before taking any painkillers before going to bed after a night of drinking. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen can combine with alcohol in the liver with toxic side effects.

Many people drink to relax and have a good time. Part of the side effects of alcohol is that it releases inhibitions. The only problem is that this state of relaxation often will cause people to drink more than they really should. So the best thing that you can do is to learn your own drinking habits, and figure out what you can do to drink more responsibly.

One remedy that gets a lot of press among drinkers is the “hair of the dog” theory. Some drinkers believe that if they have a drink in the morning of whatever they were drinking the night before, it will keep away a hangover. While it will help ease the symptoms temporarily, all it will do in the long run is prolong the hangover.

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