Lets face it, the occasional hangover, for those of us who enjoy a tipple, is a certainty. But why do we continue to punish ourselves? Surely, in this day and age, we must have developed the technology to counteract the nausea, lethargy, dry mouth and nagging headaches we experience with a handover? Sadly not. While the following posts may help ease your suffering, quite simply the only way to truly cure a hangover is not to drink too much the night before.

Myths

A cup of coffee in the morning
This old villain may well help you wake up, but it contain caffeine (a diuretic), which will increase dehydration and irritate your stomach further. If you need a stimulant, try ginseng. If you are a regular coffee drinker, however, you may administer a small dose of caffeine … there’s no need to suffer from two drug withdrawals at the same time!

The hair of the Dog that bit you
Some more alcohol will take away your pain but it will possibly return it two-fold the next day. For me, however, anything that will ease my suffering for even a second is worth a try.

Sex
I really don’t enjoy being the killjoy here, but sex just isn’t the cure it really should be. Can you imagine if it was, though …?

My wife swears by a greasy fast food order as the best cure.

The best I can do is to guzzle as much water as possible before I hit the sack. This works VERY well... the big problem here is remembering to do it when you are drunk.

Take Memorial Day weekend for example. I am sure the Mayor can attest... Too many Mai Tai's for me, no water before bed, and wow was I punished the next day. I was out skiing by that next afternoon though...

before, during & after
The answer to the question “What causes a hangover?” is a complex one. There is more that one reason for all the pain. Most hangovers are caused by a combination of dehydration, the loss of sugars and salt, and poisoning of the system with alcohol … or precisely, the impurities in alcohol.
You can never really know when one is going to creep up on you and, once its there, how to deal with it. However, help is at hand. Here are some ways to avoid a hangover just by being a bit clever, (lets face it none of us are particularly good at this while under the influence), so read carefully.

Before you even leave the house-that’s right, while you’re still sober-have something to eat. This slows absorption of alcohol. Carbs and fatty foods are best. If you can’t find the time to eat, drink a glass of milk at least. If you get the chance to eat something during the evening do