Hangover Cures That Work
There are plenty of folk remedy hangover cures that work. There are also plenty that don't work, and a few that may do harm.
The key to following folk hangover remedies that work is to use your knowledge of what causes a hangover to figure out which cures make good health sense and which don't. Hangover cures that work must do one of a few things -- rehydrate, calm the nerves, ease stomach pain, etc. In other words, to earn the title 'best cure for a hangover', a substance must have some built-in hangover relief properties. Your magic blanket doesn't count and there is no such thing as "the perfect hangover movie". At least, not yet.
Alcohol Withdrawal
Isn't the biggest problem with a hangover your body's reaction to the chemicals that made you drunk? Isn't a hangover really just alcohol withdrawal?
If it were that simple, drinking a shot during a hangover would fix you right up. You wouldn't need hangover cure suggestions if simply putting more alcohol in your body solved the hangover problem. Unfortunately, a hangover is not really "alcohol withdrawal". A hangover is a collection of symptoms, some of which could be related to a body's reaction to CNS depression (shakes, nervous feelings) but most of which are due simply to the chemical workings of alcohol and its direct effects on your body.
Hangover Symptoms
If you kept a collection of your various hangovers and their symptoms you might be surprised how much they can vary. A hangover feels the same as any other hangover (okay, maybe this one's a little bit worse than the last) but in reality their symptoms can be totally different.
Like a flu must have a fever, a hangover pretty much has to have one of the following three symptoms: headache, exhaustion, or what athletes charmingly call "gastrointestinal distress". If you don't have one of those three symptoms, what are you complaining about?
Other symptoms common to a hangover -- "flu like" symptoms, aches and pains, shakes, vomiting, all the way down to constipation, blurry vision, and overheating.
Hangover Cures That Work
Let's look at some popular folk remedy hangover cures and figure out which ones might work and which ones to avoid.
- Sleep -- Sure, this is a folk remedy. Some people swear by shut-eye to relieve their hangover symptoms. Since hangover symptoms have a time limit, sleep may be the definition of a hangover cure that works. If your symptoms aren't so bad that you can't sleep, I say go for it.
- Drink water -- You may think we're still in "Well duh" territory here, but some people may still think this is a myth. Look, drinking water is crucial to life, so you tell me if its crucial for a hangover recovery. As for guzzling water before you fall asleep? I swore by this in college, and if you can manage to stay hydrated during the entire length of your binge, you may find you never have hangover symptoms at all.
- Avoid caffeine -- I've never understood this bit of advice. Sure, caffeine is a diuretic like alcohol and therefore dehydrating, but if you're already drinking tons of water for your hangover, a little caffeine will probably do you good. Caffeine is not as strong a diuretic as alcohol.
- Eat artichokes -- There's a special kind of artichoke that is rumored to have hangover curative properties -- the Globe artichoke. Extract from Globe artichokes is included in many a remedy available over the counter, and people swear their symptoms improve when they eat a little Globe. The American Journal of Drug Abuse disagrees, saying flat out that "artichoke extract is not effective in preventing the signs and symptoms of alcohol-induced hangover."
- Get High Doses of Vitamin C -- This is the catch all folk cure for any number of diseases. Is it a hangover cure that works? Not in my experience. By the time those vitamins enter your bloodstream and start to replenish you, you will pretty much be out of the hangover woods as is. I'm not saying avoid Vitamin C, just not saying it works.
- Eat mineral rich food -- My girlfriend swears that eating tons of pickles or canned fish like tuna always fix her hangovers. While I don't want to go anywhere near a can of tuna when hungover, if you find that these "mineral rich" foods work, I say go for it.
- Take a shower -- Showering relaxes your muscles and your mind. Showering is part of any hangover cure that works by putting your mind and body at ease.
- Take Painkillers -- Got some extra narcotics lying around from that dental surgery last year? Some people would have you believe that popping a Vicodin or two cures their hangovers. Unfortunately, I don't support this theory. The side effects of drugs that are in those narcotics (aspirin, Tylenol, or ibuprofen) are nasty when magnified, and a hangover is great at magnifying other illness symptoms. Your blood will thin, which can increase a headache, and some of these drugs just do further damage to your liver. Quick relief may sound nice, but you may do more harm than good if you reach for the codeine.
- Get Exercise -- "Sweating it out" is popular in college. Sunday morning finds tons of college kids grimacing on the track at the rec center trying to get that poison out of their system. Unfortunately for you gym rats out there, I don't think exercise makes sense as a hangover cure. Exertion will wear out an already tired body, and exercising does little to ease your outraged nerves. Avoid exercise, I say.
- Take B vitamins -- Studies by doctors at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown concluded that extreme doses of Vitamin B6 reduces hangover symptoms. It is unclear why this works, but apparently if you take a dose of B6 that is several hundreds times more than the "recommended daily dose", your symptoms will start to shrink inside an hour. I say go for it.
Hangover cures that work are rare. Avoid the "hair of the dog" trap and try any one of a dozen healthy alternatives. The key to finding a hangover cure that works is to find things that relieve individual hangover symptoms.