The silly season is closing in fast and we all know what that means, over-indulgence in all areas and for most people that includes booze. Obviously the ultimate goal would be to not drink so much that you get a hangover but sometimes the champagne just goes down a little too easily and before you know it, it's 2am and the tequila shots are out. In that instance we have a few natural remedies that you could try to help shake that hangover a bit quicker.
First, let's look at why we get a hangover. No matter which way you cut it, alcohol is a toxin (insert sad face emoji) so despite the 'antioxidants', it's a product that doesn't make our bodies happy so it tries to remove it any way possible as fast as possible. The main culprit is the ethanol in the booze. This acts as a diuretic, makes us pee far more often and as a result we end up very dehydrated. The symptoms we associate with hangovers are mostly the result of this dehydration. Alcohol also irritates the stomach lining, depresses our brain cells and lowers our blood sugar. Why do we drink again? Oh, because it makes us EXCELLENT dancers and the dull conversation with Brenda from accounts way more tolerable. That's right.
We have searched the interwebs for you to find all the best natural remedies to help make the hangover slightly less painful. Please note, these are not our personal recommendations for any particular individual, simply a collation of what we found.
#1 WATER
Seems the obvious one, right? If alcohol makes us dehydrated, consuming water between our alcoholic beverages is going to help combat that. It's free and anyone can do it. Take that for a spin.
#2 BONE BROTH & COCONUT WATER
Again with the dehydration, our body loses electrolytes and water alone may not be enough to get us back to our spritely selves. Both bone broth and coconut water are great sources of electrolytes. Bone broth is also rich in collagen which can help calm and soothe that irritated gut lining as well as being a great source of magnesium which can help with detoxification and calm the pounding head.
#3 GINGER
Ginger is known for its abilities to calm an irritated stomach so try some ginger tea or ginger kombucha.
#4 BANANA
Fructose helps the body metabolise alcohol so getting in some fruit might help move the process along. Banana's are also a great source of potassium which becomes depleted through heavy drinking.
#5 PROBIOTICS
Particularly Bifidus bacteria can be a superstar at helping to detoxify acetylaldehyde, which is a byproduct of alcohol.
#6 ACTIVATED CHARCOAL
Commonly used in emergency centres for drug and alcohol poisoning, charcoal adsorbs toxins by binding to them and drawing them out of the body. This could be useful to take both pre and post alcohol consumption but make sure you drink plenty of water with it to help flush everything out.
#7 SWEAT
Yep, we know you may not feel like a hardcore workout but sweating is one of our bodies best ways to detoxify. If you can't manage the workout maybe hit up a sauna instead.
#8 AVOID CAFFEINE
Yes, we know, you just want that cup of liquid gold but caffeine is also a diuretic and you are already dehydrated so step away from the latte.
#9 EGGS
These little nutrient powerhouses are rich in l-cysteine which is a clever little amino acid responsible for breaking down toxins and releasing them.
#10 GOOD CARBS
As we mentioned above, alcohol messes with our blood sugar and can cause low blood sugar. Getting in some good healthy carbs can help to balance that out. We'd go for some sweet potatoes, potatoes or a bit of fruit.
Good luck with the festive season and we hope that some of these remedies come through with the goods for you! Be sure to let us know via our socials!
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