Holiday Hangover Recovery Tips
How to avoid feeling like a post-fight boxer on Boxing Day
Dec 20, 2008
T'is the season indeed. The season of increasingly cold weather and frantic shopping misadventures where for many, the only way to cope is by adding an extra quart of rum to the eggnog. Here, a few time-tested strategies for minimizing the morning-after humbugs.
Never pass on a big holiday meal
Having food in your stomach is a surefire way to keep from getting too drunk too quickly. Foods that are rich in protein (like the traditional holiday turkey) have been shown to slow the body's absorption rate of alcohol. So indulging in a heavy holiday meal will not only help your body deal with indulging in a few holiday beverages, but feeling full should have the added benefit of making it easier to spread out those eggnogs. In short, do not choose one indulgence over the other (i.e. do not compromise by avoiding the rich foods in favour of the even richer drinks) as the two tend to compliment and balance out one another.
Well-timed aspirin
Taking aspirin after a night of drinking is a common way of dealing with a hangover, but if the aspirin is taken at the right time (i.e. just before bed as opposed to the next morning), the effects will be dramatically improved. This is because the aspirin will start to relieve increased pressure on the brain while you are sleeping, which allows the brain's blood flow to return to normal and helps to keep the usual very early morning jackhammer sensation from occurring. Also, a tall glass of water taken with the aspirin will help your body re-hydrate itself (remember, a hangover is little more than intense dehydration) while the aspirin does its work.
Though some will attest to the opposite, it is extremely important not to take the aspirin before drinking. Many studies have shown that having aspirin in your system and then drinking actually causes the alcohol to be delivered to the bloodstream faster. The result is getting far drunker than one might have intended, with the sickly a sickly morning after inevitable and intense.
Hair of the dog
The advice to 'take a hair of the dog that bit you,' meaning to take a drink the next morning of whatever you drank to excess the night before, is as old as Shakespeare and Brewer even made mention of it in his Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898).
In keeping with the homeopathic principle of similia similibus curantur (like cures like), the term once referred to an ineffective way to stop the onset of rabies after a rabid dog bite. While there are many who swear to its effectiveness when applied to drinks, many others claim that drinking any amount of alcohol whatsoever while hungover will only serve to intensify the hangover's effects. So following this particular piece of advice is a bit of a gamble, as the effects seem to vary from person to person.
Eating/Drinking the pain away
Since alcohol depletes the body of essential vitamins (primarily vitamin B), it helps to have some vitamin B-rich foods around for the next morning, such as most cereals or bananas, as these will help your body to restore its natural balance.
Though it is generally best to drink only water to kill a hangover, a small amount of coffee would be a wise addition to the equation. While many consider the hangover-reducing effects of coffee to be a myth, the simple truth is that coffee is a stimulant and alcohol is a depressant, so a caffeine-rich beverage can help bring your energy level back to normal. Also, caffeine has been shown to restrict the blood vessels in the brain, which counters cerebral blood pressure and reduces the intensity of a hangover-induced headache. Though be sure not to overdo it, as too much coffee can actually start to dehydrate you and prolong the hangover's overall length.
But of course, the very best way to avoid the dreaded holiday hangover is to simply avoid drinking to excess. So be aware of your limits, leave the car keys at home and have a happy drunken holiday!
