5 Timely Remedies for the Holiday Hangover
Foods, supplements and other remedies to relieve hangovers during the holiday season — and any time.

All those festive glasses of wine and other spirits may taste great going down, but leave you battling a throbbing headache, nausea and fatigue. Fortunately, hangover relief is at hand. The next time you’re regretting your night of overindulging, give these hangover remedies a try:

• Drink More Water
Alcohol is a diuretic and leaves you dehydrated, which makes hangover symptoms such as headaches, thirst and fatigue a lot worse. In between rounds, try to drink two glasses of water for every glass of alcohol you have.

• Take N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC)
Alcohol breaks down into acetaldehyde, which is very toxic and increases free radical production in your body. NAC, an amino acid, helps to soak up these nasty byproducts of drinking and prevent damage to your liver and kidneys. You can buy NAC in supplement form at health stores. Also, eggs contain cysteine, so it turns out they may be helpful in relieving hangover symptoms after all.

• Stick to Clear Alcoholic Drinks
As always, prevention is better than cure. So, try to stick to clear drinks instead of dark-colored alcohol. Darker brews trigger worse hangover symptoms because they contain methanol (which breaks down into formaldehyde), and more congeners — byproducts produced during fermentation. Clear alcohols like vodka and gin, which are mostly pure ethanol, are less likely to give you a bad hangover.

• Fill up on Carbs
Carbohydrates help to soak up alcohol in your stomach so that less of it enters your bloodstream. Excessive drinking also messes with your blood sugar levels and makes you feel tired and suffer severe headaches. Carbohydrates also play a role in stabilizing blood sugar levels. Before and at the party, you should fill up on foods such as potatoes, bread, pasta, pita chips or pizza. Choose whole grains as much as possible.

• Choose the Right Pain Reliever
Aspirin or ibuprofen taken before you go to bed or shortly after drinking reduces the head and body aches that come with hangovers. You could also try taking a 100 mg ginger root pill. Ginger root is a pain reliever and one of the most effective treatments for nausea. However, if you have gallstones or a bleeding disorder, you shouldn’t take ginger.

Finally, you should never treat hangover pain or headache with acetaminophen because combining it with alcohol can cause liver toxicity.

Source: Core Content Media
Type: Original article