A night of overindulgence often leads to a punishing hangover and nausea, as if your body were extending a warning against over-indulgence. Hangover symptoms usually include nausea, fatigue, diarrhea, and shaking, increased blood pressure, rapid heart rate, and the overproduction of sweat. In some cases, hangover symptoms also activate your body’s “fight or flight” response and photosensitivity.
The causes of a hangover are just as diverse as the symptoms. You may experience hangover symptoms because alcohol gets metabolized into a toxic substance called acetaldehyde. Furthermore, excessive alcohol consumption also affects your brain activity and sleep cycle, leading to sleep deprivation. Alcohol’s diuretic properties also lead to an electrolyte imbalance and dehydration.
Your body loses excessive fluids in the form of sweat, urine, and vomit. The loss of fluid and essential electrolytes makes your body incapable of absorbing more water since electrolytes are necessary for fluid absorption. The lack of fluids increases the risk of nausea and diarrhea, which leads to further dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.
Most experts agree that hangover symptoms start appearing when your blood alcohol level starts decreasing. Regardless of the cause of hangover and nausea, most people wonder about the ideal hangover and nausea cure, i.e., how do you get rid of a hangover. Please continue reading to learn about the 7 steps to cure your hangover symptoms.
#1. Hair of the Dog
As mentioned earlier, hangover symptoms often manifest due to alcohol withdrawal, which leads some to argue that further consumption of liquor will ease the symptoms. This method is popularly called “taking the hair of the dog that bit you,” or “hair of the dog” in short. There’s some validity to this belief because consuming a little more alcohol can ease some of the withdrawal symptoms. However, you should largely avoid this treatment because it further perpetuates a terrible cycle and delays your recovery considerably. It’s better to get rid of the hangover quickly rather than slow it down in the name of making it tolerable.
#2. Carbohydrates
Excessive alcohol consumption significantly lowers your blood sugar levels, resulting in fatigue and headaches. Furthermore, people often forget eating when they’re drunk, and the lack of fuel and sustenance adds to your headaches. Consuming some healthy carbohydrates, such as toast, eggs, and juice can relieve some of the symptoms of a hangover. However, carbohydrates can only relieve some of the headaches and fatigue, not all the hangover symptoms.
#3. Pain Medication
You can also take some pain medications, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to relieve the hangover symptoms. These pain medications minimize the pain and discomfort from your headaches, but they don’t make the hangover symptoms go away entirely. Furthermore, you should strictly avoid Tylenol because it contains a compound that accentuates the acetaminophen in your blood, harming the liver.
#4. Vitamin B and Zinc
Studies have shown that people who consume foods rich in vitamin B and zinc, such as legumes, nuts, seeds, dairy, eggs, whole grains, shellfish, and meat, experience fewer hangover symptoms. As such, you can consume these food items before you start drinking or after you’re done drinking to minimize your hangover severity. However, these methods lead to marginal results, and the results are inconclusive.
#5. Coffee or Tea
Some people say that coffee and tea can help with hangovers. Caffeine doesn’t exactly have any components that relieve hangover symptoms, but it might make you feel a little better by getting rid of the grogginess. You should also avoid coffee and tea because they’re diuretics that worsen your dehydration. As such, if you’re experiencing dehydration symptoms due to your hangover, such as fatigue, diarrhea, nausea, etc., coffee and tea will worsen your hangover symptoms rather than provide relief.
#6. Light-Colored Drinks
Studies have shown lighter-colored drinks, such as gin and vodka, aren’t as likely to cause hangovers as darker liquors, such as tequila, whiskey, and red wine. Darker alcoholic drinks contain a high volume of congeners and methanol — these components metabolize into more toxic substances, leading to worse hangovers. Meanwhile, clear alcoholic drinks only contain ethanol.
#7. Electrolyte Replenishment: one of the best hangover remedies
Electrolyte replenishment and hydration are the best hangover remedies. Alcohol is a diuretic that increases your propensity to sweat, urinate, and vomit, leading to extreme dehydration. If you experience diarrhea, vomit, excessive sweating, and other such hangover symptoms, the best trick is to drink lots of electrolytes. They replenish the lost electrolytes in your body, allowing you to absorb fluids and reverse the dehydration symptoms.
RecoverORS is one of the best solutions for hangovers and headaches. It’s an electrolyte replacement powder containing the optimal combination of electrolytes for the optimal functioning of the human body. Drinking RecoverORS before, during, and after your drinking session helps you maintain electrolyte balance and prevent or remedy your hangovers. Unlike most previous treatments on this list, RecoverORS is the #1 recommended electrolyte drink by clinicians and doctors.
HYDRATION STARTS WITH RECOVERORS!
Hangover Nausea Cure FAQs
Why do you get hungover to begin with?
You get hangovers for various reasons, including the loss of fluids, dehydration, acetaldehyde production, sleep deprivation, etc.
[Enter my special hangover drink] Will chugging one cut the length and intensity of my hangover?
You should avoid drinking more to combat your hangover. Drinking more alcohol might temporarily relieve some of your hangover symptoms, but it will only delay your recovery in the long-run. You should only cure or treat hangovers with electrolyte replacements.
But hydration, in general, does count for something when I’m hungover, right?
Yes, hydration is extremely important when you are hungover and dehydrated. If you’re experiencing dehydration symptoms, such as nausea, excessive sweating, and diarrhea, you must drink electrolyte replacements.
Is there anything else I should do to kick my hangover?
Drinking electrolytes will help you kick your hangover symptoms. However, the best way to avoid a hangover is to go prepared — eat plenty of carbohydrates with zinc and vitamin B beforehand, and consume plenty of electrolytes between your drinks to avoid dehydration.
