Drinking copious amounts of alcohol can be fun, but what’s not fun is nursing a huge headache and vomiting last night’s contents all day long afterward. Yes, hangovers are one of the worst experiences you can ever face. So many people scramble to find the quick, perfect cure for a hangover with little success! Sadly, the only cure for hangovers is time, but you can do some things to help make the recovery process a little easier. Below are five of the most effective ways to make yourself feel better during a hangover quick.
1. Drink Lots of Water
Alcohol decreases a hormone called vasopressin in the body. It’s responsible for lowering the amount of urine excreted by the kidneys. This is why drinking alcohol makes us pee more liquid than what we thought our bodies are capable of holding!
So, when we wake up in the morning after a wicked night out, more often than not, we’re severely dehydrated. It might be uncomfortable to drink water on a queasy stomach, but trust us—it’ll help a lot. Our bodies can’t do much when they’re dehydrated, so you really need water to help recover from your hangover.
If you want to go a little extra, especially if you vomited, try sports beverages like Gatorade and Pocari Sweat. They’ll help you replenish lost electrolytes. They’re also formulated to be extra absorbent, making them work quicker than water!
2. Eat a Carbohydrate-Heavy Snack
Drinking a lot irritates the lining of your stomach. Couple that with waking up hungover on an empty stomach, and your tummy’s probably feeling like it’s melting! You need to deal with a spectacularly angry stomach, fight nausea, and get some nutrients into your body all at the same time.
The best way to soothe your stomach quick during a hangover is to eat something carbohydrate-heavy like crackers or bread. This quickly absorbs stomach acid that agonizes your stomach lining. It also gets your blood sugar levels (and thus body systems) back to normal. Since these types of foods are pretty lightweight, you won’t have to worry about upsetting your stomach or feeling nauseated.
If you’re feeling up to it, try to have a bit of protein too. Protein is needed to make glutathione, an antioxidant that flushes out toxins from the body. You can get protein from eggs, chicken, seafood, or yogurt.
3. Take Pain Relievers
If you’ve got crazy headaches and muscle soreness after a night of drinking, then taking some pain relievers will help make the pain go away. However, please do not take Tylenol (acetaminophen). This medication has negative side effects on the liver. It can continue the damage already caused by alcohol and can cause irreparable damage to your liver!
Other than that, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen and aspirin can help with body pains and aches. Just remember to eat something when taking these drugs. Some encourage stomach acid release and will irritate an already irritated stomach even more.
4. Go Back to Bed
Why force yourself to get up and do all sorts of quick things to cure your hangover? Why not just sleep the hangover away? Indeed, going back to bed quick is one of the best cures for a hangover!
Sleeping doesn’t actually cure hangovers, but they do alleviate and prevent some of the awful symptoms of a hangover like migraines, fatigue, muscle soreness, and others. It’s a restorative process that quickly fights off the consequences of your poor actions. You’re not going to feel the greatest when you wake up, but you’re way better off than a poor soul that decided to stay up all night!
Because of this, we highly recommend going ham at drinking sessions when you’ve got nothing planned for tomorrow. It’s the perfect excuse to spend all day in bed!
5. Get IV Drip Therapy
Did you know that IV drip therapy is a super-fast cure for a hangover? According to an IV hydration clinic in Los Angeles, many people report relief from a hangover in as little as one hour!
IV therapy, or intravenous therapy, involves inserting a syringe directly into your veins. It releases medications directly into your bloodstream. While it’s commonly used by hospital patients to help feed them when they’re bedridden, it is also used for treating medical illnesses, flushing out toxins, aiding weight loss, and curing hangovers!
Sodium chloride is most commonly used for IV drip therapy. This helps combat the effects of dehydration on the body. This practice also restores lost water and electrolytes, making you bounce back as soon as possible.
