Kick that hangover with food

Heather Little-White, PhD, Contributor

It's vacation time and, as you have fun, you may find that you end up with a hangover as a result of consuming too much alcohol. Of course, if you have low body weight or lower fat-to-lean ratio, you will be more susceptible to the effects of consuming too much alcohol. If you went out on the social circuit without having a fair-size meal, you would be setting up yourself for a hangover.

At the root of a hangover is dehydration, since alcohol is diuretic in nature. When you drink, you urinate more frequently losing body fluid in your urine and, as you become dehydrated, you will get headaches, feel nauseous, unbalanced and depressed. The type and amount of alcohol you consume will determine exactly how you feel.

Champagne

Some people drink lavish amounts of champagne, whiskey and brandy as a show of status, not knowing that they contain congeners, which bring on symptoms of a hangover. The same is true of red, wine which contains tyramine, which causes headaches. It is best to drink gin, vodka and white wine which are less likely to cause hangover symptoms.

Prevention

It is best to prevent a hangover by taking certain precautions before drinking.

1. Eat a hearty meal and have a glass of milk if you can. Drink a lot of water with the meal.

2. Alternate alcoholic drinks and soft drinks to reduce the dehydrating process. You can trick your friends by having clear carbonated drinks on the 'rocks'. Let them believe you are having a strong drink on the 'rocks'.

3. Do not mix drinks as the dehydrating effect is stronger.

4. Drink a lot of water before going to sleep, and a glass of warm milk may help you sleep.

Drink lavishly

A hangover is unpleasant and may impact several organs and systems of the body. If you plan your meal and fluid intake carefully, you can get over your hangover quickly. To deal with dehydration - a dry throat, and headache - you have to drink a lot of water and fruit juices rich in vitamin C, maybe two to three times than you would normally drink.

The fructose in fruit juices will boost your blood sugar, which may be low with the dehydration you are experiencing. Vegetable juices like celery and carrot are ideal. Do not follow the old advice of drinking coffee to sober you up. This will actually make you feel worse as coffee is a diuretic.

Healthy breakfast

Have a healthy breakfast free of fried foods. Eat wholegrain cereals or oats or cornmeal porridge. These foods will slowly release glucose into the bloodstream. Stay away from fried foods and use protein items like poached eggs or for a more hearty fare you could have steamed fish with steamed cassava.

For a hot beverage, you may want to try ginger tea made with fresh ginger which is excellent for nausea. It is easy to make by placing some slivers of ginger root in water and bringing to a boil.

The hangover kicker: Carrot, apple and ginger juice

3 carrots

1 tart apple

¹/²-inch piece ginger root, cut in even pieces

Method

Add all the ingredients to a juicer and juice. Add ice and drink cold.