How to Avoid a Hangover
Most of the focus on hangovers is about "curing" them. Curing a hangover means you've already got nasty hangover symptoms -- aches and pains, dry mouth, dehydration -- and are looking for relief of those symptoms. However, if you could avoid getting a hangover in the first place, you wouldn't have to spend any effort battling the symptoms that come after a night of celebrating.
Learning how to avoid a hangover and how to prevent a hangover will save you lots of money on tomato juice and Coca Cola. If It old you there were steps to take to prevent a hangover from happening, wouldn't you take that advice and run with it?
How to Avoid a Hangover
Learning how to prevent a hangover is a lot like learning how to deal with a migraine headache. Migraines are notoriously difficult to treat because what works for one migraine may not work at all for the next. That's why doctors dealing with migraine patients ask them to keep a diary or chart of their migraine prevention tactics and treatments in order to look back and figure out "what worked last time" and what will work this time.
Keeping a hangover diary is one way to learn how to prevent a hangover. If you notice that a hangover happens every time you drink Champagne or every time you have a "fruity" drink, simply try to avoid those drinks. The easiest answer to the question "How do I Avoid a Hangover?" is simply not to drink. You may think one beer or one shot isn't enough to give you a hangover, but if you combine those little drinks with any other illness or activities (a beer during a hot game of golf, for instance) you could be looking at a period of hangover.
Instead of avoiding alcohol altogether or suffering through hours of hangover trouble, here's how to prevent a hangover from ever happening.
- Stay hydrated and well fed -- This is a no brainer. If you are hydrated before you start to drink and stay hydrated while pounding back beers, your chances of being dehydrated a few hours later (and thus hungover) are much lower. There's good news about hydration -- it is no longer thought that only water provides complete hydration. Yes, water is healthier for you, but if you're craving apple juice or even a soda, you will add SOME hydration to your diet. Unfortunately, heavy amounts of caffeine or sugar can contribute further to hangover symptoms, so stick to low sugar, low caffeine liquids for your hydration needs. As for food, it is good to drink with food in your stomach, but it should be the right kind of food. Eat a nutritious and carb heavy snack before a bout with a local keg. A rice dish at the local Thai or Vietnamese place is a good start -- starchy, carb heavy, and full of energy to help you feel on top of your night of drinking.
- Drink clear alcohol in moderation -- Dark liquors like Scotch or dark rums contain substances called cogeners which cause hangover symptoms. Stick to vodkas and other clear liquors and your chances of earning yourself a hangover are much lower. Also, just because you drink doesn't mean you have to pound shots with the rest of the crowd. Know your own alcohol limits and stick to them. Remember that women shouldn't "keep up with the boys" or try to drink like a male. Females get drunk faster than men and suffer worse from hangovers, so "keeping up with the boys" may mean giving yourself a man-sized hangover the next day. Drinking to moderation can still be tons of fun, especially the next morning when you can move around and your friends are all zombies.
- Take B vitamins -- As a cure for hangover symptoms, super human doses of Vitman B6 (also known as pyridine) have been shown in lab tests to reduce symptoms that are in line with a typical hangover. Though you don't want to take heavy doses of any vitamin or nutrient on a regular basis, the occasional use of high dose B6 for hangover prevention and symptomatic treatment is a good backup plan in case you can't remember how to avoid a hangover. But you can use B vitamins on a daily basis and get your level of pyridine high enough that your body just won't feel the hangover effects. You can become the Hangoverless Man just by taking a vitamin every day.
- Avoid caffeine and rich food -- Let's say you plan on having a rough night out with the boys on Friday. Starting on Thursday afternoon, avoid caffeine and foods that may upset your stomach. Sure, Friday morning will be kind of tough without that second or third cup of coffee, but you may find that cutting back on caffeine and stomach-troubling foods a couple days before a hangover will pretty much make that hangover non-existent. Tips for how to prevent a hangover sometimes suggest caffeine as a symptom fix, we're trying to prevent hangovers. Back off the caffeine and cheese fries for a couple days in preparation for mixing wine and beer at the wild party this weekend. Saturday morning you will thank yourself for it.
- Sleep through your hangover -- There's no need to prepare yourself for avoiding a hangover if you never wake up to notice you have one. The average hangover can be overcome with just a few hours' extra sleep -- if you normally wake up at 8 in the morning, try to sleep in until 11 or noon. The easiest way to prevent a hangover is to avoid consciousness for as long as you can and let the symptoms make themselves disappear . . . after guzzling a gallon or two of water the night before of course. There's nothing like some good bed rest to avoid hangover symptoms.
If you know how to avoid a hangover you won't find yourself gagging in the morning trying to force down a Bloody Mary or a pile of greasy eggs. Avoiding a hangover means avoiding terrible hangover symptoms like upset stomach and a pounding headache. Why suffer through a hangover when you can take steps now to make yourself "hangover proof"?