The Best Ways to Prevent, Ease & Get Rid of a Hangover After a Night of Drinking
You’re hungover again? We’ve all been there and understand your pain. Here are some easy tips to follow to help prevent, ease or cure even the worst of hangovers. Take notes so you never have to ask Siri for “best hangover cures” again, because she’s starting to judge.
By Mairyn Chorney on Aug. 03, 2019
Hangovers are nobody’s friend. But let’s face it, you did this to yourself. Now continue reading to learn about the best ways to get rid of a hangover fast — you need it!
What Causes a Hangover?
Alcohol causes hangovers!
In simple terms, excessive consumption of alcohol in a small amount of time causes hangovers. You think by now you’d know… When alcohol is consumed, it works as a diuretic, which means it increases urine production — a.k.a it makes you pee… a lot! When you urinate too much, you become dehydrated. Dehydration is one of the main causes of your hangover.
What are the symptoms of a hangover?
Common Hangover Symptoms & How to Cure Them:
Hangover symptoms and the severity of them varies from person to person. Common hangovers include dehydration, thirst, and dry mouth, dizziness (a.k.a. “the spins”), fatigue and weakness, headaches and muscle aches, inability to concentrate, nausea and vomiting, rapid heartbeat, sensitivity to light and sound, and shakiness.
If you currently have any of these symptoms and are now remembering that you threw a few back last night, you’re not dying (maybe you are, we’re not doctors) — you’re hungover!
Continue reading to learn how to prevent, ease, and cure your most hated hangover symptoms.
How to Prevent a Hangover: Tips for the Night Before
Drink water. Lots of it.
You hear it all the time from your doctor, your mom, your significant other, etc. to drink more water! The best way to prevent a hangover is to drink lots of water. A good rule of thumb is to drink one glass of water for every alcoholic drink. Bring a reusable water bottle (because of the environment, duh) to bed and continue to drink water throughout the night.
Eat food.
Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach is a disaster waiting to happen. Having a full stomach and snacking on high carb foods, or foods with high water content is crucial when wanting to prevent a hangover. This shouldn’t be hard, considering drinking alcohol does make you hungry. Food will help slow down the rate that your body absorbs alcohol.
Keep track of what you’re drinking.
It’s the end of the night and the bartender hands you the bill. You look down in disbelief, shocked at how you drank so much and didn’t realize it. It is way too easy to over-drink. It is important to keep track of what and how much you’re drinking. Try to limit yourself to 1 drink an hour. Also, do not mix alcohols — if you’re drinking beer, stick with beer. Don’t start with beer, switch to vodka sodas, try a margarita (even if they’re on special), then end the night with a bottle of red wine, you’ll regret it in the morning!
Take your vitamins.
Like stated before, alcohol makes you pee. If you are peeing frequently, you’re losing a lot of vitamins and nutrients, the most important ones being vitamin B and C. A lot of people swear that vitamin B tablets (ones that contain B1, B2, folic acid, B6, and B12) can prevent a hangover and have actually been nicknamed as “The Hangover Vitamin”. Pop one or two before drifting off to dreamland and hopefully you’ll wake up feeling like you didn’t get hit by a truck the night before. Vitamin C tablets and Magnesium will also help.
Can’t remember anything from last night?
Check out the 5 funny stages of being “beer drunk” to help refresh your memory.
How to Ease / Get Rid of a Hangover Fast: Tips for the Morning After
Refused to follow those tips listed above? Now you’re paying for it! Don’t worry, JustBeer is here to help… as much as we can.
Get plenty of sleep.
Since alcohol can impair your sleep quality, it is important to sleep in as long as you can. Sleeping in or taking a long nap will help your body recover, and reduce fatigue symptoms. Be sure to think twice before a night of binge drinking if you have to be up early the next morning.
Eat a big breakfast.
Hangovers symptoms have been linked to low blood sugar levels. It is important to have a large, healthy breakfast to help maintain your blood sugar levels.
Best foods for a hangover?
Juice, eggs, bread, greasy hash browns, and fruits that have high water content and foods that are high in potassium, like bananas. If you’re not in the mood for breakfast, a McDonald’s cheeseburger and an extra-large Coke has been scientifically proven to cure bad hangovers. Ok, you got us… there is no scientific evidence to prove McDonald’s eases hangovers, but we swear it works!
Keep drinking water.
We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again — Stay hydrated! Drinking a sh*t ton of water will help reduce hangover symptoms such as thirst, headache, fatigue, and dry mouth.
Looking for more easy hangover remedies?
Click here for hangover tips from the JustBeer staff!
Hair of the Dog That Bit You: Can drinking more alcohol cure a hangover?
Treating a hangover by consuming another alcoholic drink seems… paradoxical. Is there any truth to this famous hangover remedy?
Drinking more alcohol is believed to affect the metabolism of methanol (which is a by-product of fermentation [link to What is Beer Fermentation?] and found in most alcoholic drinks). Your body converts methanol to formaldehyde, which has been found partly responsible for many hangover symptoms we all know and hate. However, studies have shown that after a night of heavy drinking, consuming more alcohol could slow down or even prevent formaldehyde from forming.
The debate on whether or not drinking more can ease your hangover is an ongoing one. Try it and see if it works for you, but you’re most likely just delaying the inevitable and may potentially be doing more harm to your body than good.
In conclusion, a hangover is your body’s way of telling you that it’s not happy when you drink that much alcohol. Keep track of what you’re drinking, how much water you’re consuming and try your best not to over drink. If you wake up with a hangover, follow these tips. You can thank us later.
Please drink responsibly and keep an eye out for your friends that could be drinking too much.
Want to educate yourself on how to be a responsible drinker so you never have to experience a hangover again? Quit googling “best hangover cures” and check out these posts:
How To Be a Responsible Drinker
Non-Alcoholic Beers That Actually Taste Like Beer
10 Things To Do With Beer Besides Drinking It
Drinking & Driving in Canada — Stats & Other Things You Need to Know