How to Prevent or Cure a Hangover

How to Prevent or Cure a Hangover

How to Prevent or Cure a Hangover

You know the feeling. Your heart teaches your head how to throb, light burns the crust on your eyes and your body sloshes along the ground like a sack of jellyfish. It's the dreaded morning after. And you have a hangover direct from the pits of hell.

But before you regret singing Elvis at the Christmas karaoke, it might be interesting to know what alcohol does to your body, how much your body can take, and what are some of the measures for reducing the mind implosion the next morning.

Simply put, alcohol "numbs" your brain. It filters through your body at a rapid rate, smothering your frontal lobe which controls judgment and social inhibitions. How plastered you feel can depend on a variety of factors, such as weight, environment and even sex (women have less enzymes to break down alcohol). The result is a dual effect on the body, a primary bang, and a weaker sputter as the alcohol makes its way through the central nervous and digestive system.

Essentially a depressant, alcohol causes short-lived highs as your brain slows down and social hang-ups fall down. At parties or gatherings, sensory input encourages invincible, aggressive and often really embarrassing behavior whereas a quiet drink at home causes drowsiness and depression. While your brain eventually recovers from the seasonal indulgence, your body goes to war.

Being a chemical irritant, alcohol can erode your stomach in concentrations of more than 80% proof, causing ulcers and heartburn, and much post-regret. Your liver, an entirely underrated organ, is left to deal with this invasion, breaking down at a rate of about 1 1/2 ounces an hour. Flooding the fellow gets one pickled, and causes all the problems. How fit you are has little effect on how alcohol affects the body.

When drunk, we're boosted with confidence and courage, and beer goggles to make the world beautiful. Until the next morning. A hangover tries to tell us that we shouldn't drink too often, or more formally, it's the temporary physical and psychological distress following excessive consumption. As the alcohol slowly wears off, and those nerve centers start firing again, your brain drastically searches why you have a tattoo on your thigh and how come it wasn't invited.

The clock pounds, while nausea, stomach cramps and aches appear as leftovers from your night of excess. So what could you have done to prevent landing so hard, and how can you get back to some semblance of normalcy?

Be Prepared in Advance

As you may know, there is no cure for the hangover, which can be attributed to divine brilliance and our individual metabolisms. You can however take some advice:

-Chaser, PreToxx, and RU 21 and other "hangover pills" are designed to restore the chemical balance in your body, as well as preparing your system for an onslaught of excess.

-A direct cause of alcohol is dehydration. Drinking water helps to break it down faster, giving your system much needed reinforcements. Aim for two glasses per every alcoholic drink.

-Another weapon is trusty Vitamin B tablets, which provide liver-to-gut missiles in the war to save your body. While some argue this is a placebo, it can't hurt.

-Try giving your body some time to recover before passing out, as this staying awake time will allow faster recovery, and less suffering in the morning.

-Eating food is also an effective way of slowing down alcohol by up to 50%, but only when you are drinking at the same time. Once it's down the hatch, there is little to stop the resulting effects of alcohol.

-Refrain from mixing drinks. Although much debate argues what mixes and what mutilates, whiskey and beer, wine and whiskey, beer and wine are personal no-nos.

-Try an old favorite. Mix some warm milk with a tablespoon of honey and a raw egg. This concoction tastes great, nourishes and with some self-belief, cures.

-In the morning, keep yourself occupied. The busier you are, the less you have time to wallow in misery. Gentle exercise probably aids recovery, but keep it simple!

Most importantly, make the methods that work for you habit. Before you are inebriated, you must remember to drink the water etc. Make it vital.

The Room is Spinning!

Slowing down the Spinning Room Syndrome can be dealt with in two ways: The old hand-on-the-wall-foot-on-the-floor trick. The idea behind this is to give your brain some semblance of balance. Personal experience tells us the brain cannot be easily fooled. Stand in the middle of the room. When the bed comes around, jump on it and hold fast.

If you must party, you must pay. Accept this, and both experiences can be dealt with. While there is no guarantee that any of the above will work, it cannot hurt either. It may be true that a drink the following morning will help alleviate symptoms of hangovers, but starting the day with a drink doesn't sound like the greatest solution. Unfortunately if you are prepared to drink, you must be prepared to deal with any consequences.

Instead of preparing for ways to cure a hangover, plan to have a great night having a couple of drinks with those you care about. Even if it's casual, Glass with a Twist's personalized shot glasses and personalized beer glasses are an easy way to make the night feel special. Order your personal glassware today from Glass with a Twist!