Hangover Cure Myths: Remedies That Will Make Your Hangover Even Worse | Healthy Living slideshows | Well Being center

What's The Cause Behind the Symptoms of a Hangover?

Hangovers are caused by two main things: the breakdown products of alcohol and the effects of alcohol itself. Alcohol is a diuretic, so if you spend all night drinking when you wake up you'll be dehydrated; it causes your blood sugar to drop, so you'll wake up extremely hungry. And alcohol decays into in the body into a whole menu of nasties, including chemicals like acetaldehyde and formalin. These are toxic and need to be removed, causing your liver to work overtime. You need something to deal with systemic inflammation, a painkiller, rehydration and food, and rest. You don't need the faddish, foolish and downright comical 'cures' you're about to read up on. For educational purposes only, folks, don;t try any of these at home - or anywhere!

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Photo courtesy of Mislav Marohnić by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/mislav-marohnic/5233928419/
www.prevent-hangovers.com/hangover-cures-fake.html
http://howtosoberup.com/soberupfast/hangover-cures-aware/
http://www.blisstree.com/2011/10/31/sex-relationships/5-gross-hangover-cures-that-dont-work-anyway-570/
http://greatist.com/health/best-foods-hangover

Try a Hair of the Dog - If You Want to Feel Worse!

The worst thing you can take for a hangover is a 'hair of the dog that bit you' - that doesn't help with dog bites, and it doesn't help with hangovers either. Rather, drinking more alcohol will make your hangover worse - and longer. Any temporary relief you get from a hair of the dog is simply the effects of another bite - you're getting drunk again, not curing your hangover. Instead of drinking more alcohol you need to drink water or fruit juices, or milk if you can face it - anything that's going to deliver some calories and fluids.

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Coffee Isn't a Hangover Cure - It Might Make You Feel Better, Or Make Your Dehydration Worse!

Coffee can have a place in the curing of a hangover. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, so it can help you feel better and more alert, it works synergistically with aspirin, so it helps reduce swelling, and it helps you face the rest of the day. These things aren't to be sneered at, but there's no real cure for a hangover - and coffee isn't an exception. It's a diuretic, meaning that it will add to your dehydration woes; it triggers the release of stored glycogen, meaning that it will shortly make you hungrier; and just as it doesn't magically make you sober up, it won't magically kill your hangover either.

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Painkillers Before Bed, you'll Still Wake Up With a Sore Head

Painkillers you take before bed will have worn off by the time you wake up. There's the added consideration that some painkillers are actually dangerous to mix with alcohol - especially paracetamol which is toxic to the liver in quite low doses. Acetaminophen, found in Tylenol, is seriously toxic to the liver if alcohol is already present. Aspirin is safer, but no more effective in killing a headache you won't even have for eight hours. (It can also irritate the stomach lining, not a good thing when you;re already suffering from nausea.) Water before bed will help somewhat. Painkillers should be left until the morning.

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Painkillers In the Morning, Still Have a Hangover...

Painkillers before bed won't help; the sad fact is that painkillers in the morning won't help that much either. Paracetamol and tylenol are both still out because of the risk of liver damage, leaving the choice between aspirin and ibuprofen, both irritating to the stomach lining. While aspirin and caffeine together will go some way to curing the low blood pressure and relaxed blood vessels that conspire to cause your head pain, if your hangover is bad enough you could end up worse off, with painkillers triggering nausea. If this is you, stick to water until you feel well enough to eat some fruit and make that, not popping pills, your priority.

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A Greasy Breakfast Is a Traditional Hangover Cure That Kind of Works... But Mostly Doesn't

A fry-up is another mixed bag; if your hangover is well on the way to being cured, a fried breakfast can be a massive help provided it;s not too greasy. Bacon, especially, contains plenty of salts, essential for rehydration, and protein, as well as fats for fuel. But you shouldn't think that it's the thing to cure nausea or trembling: it will make your nausea worse. Wait breakfast until water and time have beaten back your hangover's worst symptoms, then choose something with a mix of fats and proteins with some carbs and plenty of vitamins.

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Why Not Rub Lemons On Your Body? (Do You Really Need an Answer?)

Before a heavy session, some of us drink a pint of milk, to line our stomachs. Others eat a large meal, which pretty much does the same thing. Over in Puerto Rico, though, they have a different trick up their sleeves. They rub a slice of lemon on the armpit of their drinking arm. You read that right. So, how does this work? Well, barring groundbreaking research from the University of Seriously, This Is What You Guys Do All Day, I think it's safe to say this one doesn't work, without having to explain why not.

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Pickle Brine - The Morning After Pick Me Up From Poland

Pickle juice is a popular hangover cure in Eastern Europe, especially in Poland. In Japan, pickles themselves are used as a hangover cure. The reasoning is the same in both cases: high concentrations of electrolytes - salts - that aid rehydration. The reason why they choose pickles is probably simply because both Poland and Japan are cultures where they eat a lot of pickles already, so this stuff is to hand when you wake up, head pounding from vodka or sake, and grope for something to make you feel better. Unless you like pickles particularly, though, there are other things that will do the same job.

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Orange Juice Will Help a Little - But It Won't Cure Your hangover

Fruit juices do have some positive effects, but the danger lies in ascribing miracle cure properties to them. Orange juice will give you some antioxidants to help combat the effects of the radicals produced by the alcohol and its breakdown products; but it won't do much more than that, and the sugar will only give you a short lift before crashing your blood sugar again. There's also the acidity to consider: when your stomach is churning isn't the best time to drink something acidic and harsh, which will make your nausea worse. Like any fluids, though, orange juice will help rehydrate you so it isn't a busted flush - unless you got your hangover drinking screwdrivers, in which case the memories may be too much...

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So What Really Helps? Well, The Bad News Is... Not Much

What really helps is time. It takes your liver about an hour to process the alcohol from one shot of spirits, and that number can't really be raised - if you're healthy it will be higher, but not by a lot. What you can do is support the process. That would take the form of hydration, rest, painkillers, something to raise your blood pressure and sugar slightly if you can face it, and some food and vitamins. Alcohol depletes your body of B vitamins, so take a supplement or eat some food with a high B vitamin content, and wait it out. Lemon-scented armpits notwithstanding, there's not much else you can do.