Hangover Cures

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of suffering from a colossal headache and other hangover symptoms, your first reaction is probably to reach for something containing aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen.  While if taken in recommended dosages, these over-the-the counter pain killers are safe, you may be tempted to take more than you should when you are experiencing a hangover.  If a little is good, a lot is NOT better when it comes to these drugs. In fact, recent studies have shown that even a minimal overdose can be very harmful.  If you take them while you are still drinking or have considerable alcohol in your body, the adverse effects can be magnified, causing stomach bleeding, or even permanent liver damage.  There are natural products that can help ease a hangover as well as or better than drugs.

Rehydration and detoxification are the primary routes to getting rid of a hangover.

Start by drinking plenty of water, both before, during and after an evening of drinking.  It can help minimize a hangover beforehand and help you recover faster after the fact. To replace lost electrolytes, make a cocktail of tomato juice with a little cayenne pepper, sugar and lime.

Eating greasy foods before or while drinking has long been touted as a means to avoid a hangover, but here’s a more natural, healthy way to do this.  Olive oil has long been used in the Mediterranean for cooking and is known in that part of the world as a means to prevent a hangover.  Drinking a small amount of olive oil before a night of drinking can work in the same manner as greasy food.  While a greasy hamburger and fries tastes great, bread dipped in olive oil with Italian spices is a much healthier way to accomplish the same thing.

Soaking in a hot bath is always soothing but you can take it one step further by creating your own “detoxifying bath” at home.  The skin is a primary route through which toxins leave our body.  You can help that process along by adding wasabi, a member of the cabbage family, or mustard to your bath. Wasabi increases blood circulation and oxygenates cellular tissue, both of which help to flush alcohol from your system faster.  For hundreds of years, mustard has been known to have a “drawing effect” on the body.  Before the invention of antibiotics, mustard plasters (rags soaked in mustard) were placed on the body to draw out diseases such as flu and pneumonia. However, you don’t need to soak yourself in mustard to cure a hangover.  Just add a couple of tablespoons of pure mustard powder to a bath and steep for 20 minutes.  Then go to sleep and wake up feeling much better.  Commercially prepared wasabi and mustard baths can also be purchased online or through natural product stores.