Ever since the film The Hangover hit our screens, feeling worse for wear after a boozy night can often be seen as something to brag about. The worse the hangover, the more wild the party.
But bragging won’t beat those common symptoms of dehydration, fatigue, headache, nausea, anxiety, and even diarrhoea or vomiting. With that dry mouth in the morning, the French don’t call a hangover “la gueule de bois” – a wooden mouth – for nothing.
With New Year’s Eve just around the corner, a new video from YouTube science channel Reactions explains to viewers how to cure your hangover using science.
A hangover is the result of several processes, the video explained. When alcohol is broken down in your liver, it results in high levels of a toxin called acetaldehyde, which make you feel tired and run down. Acetaldehyde is then further broken down into acetate, and then into carbon dioxide and water, before you feel better again.
Here are Reactions scientific tips to stop your New Year's day being a complete write-off:
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Eat eggs in the morning
Eggs contain a high concentration of amino acid L-cysteine which helps to battle excess acetaldehyde in your system and cure those feelings of general lousiness.
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Drink one glass of water for every alcoholic drink
Alcohol is a diuretic – it prohibits production of a hormone called vasopressin which regulates how much water your kidneys can hold. Therefore, water is dumped on your bladder.
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Stop drinking 1.5 hours before bed
That old wife’s tale about a pint of water before bed might not cut it. The research suggests that alcohol reduces your ability to sleep soundly, therefore in order to not further mess up your sleep pattern stop drinking well before bedtime.
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Eat before drinking
Alcohol affects the mucus lining of your stomach which protects your guts from their acidic contents. Protein also slows down the absorption of alcohol, which is why you get drunk faster on an empty stomach.
“There is only one logical surefire way to stop a hangover – don’t drink like a fool,” the video advised.
