Western Oregon Journal

Issue date: 1/14/05 Section: Culture

Days around the holidays (and a bit after) are notoriously known for the parties with either drunken family members or drunken friends. Either way, the next-day repercussions are never fun, with splitting headaches and nausea to keep you in bed all afternoon. Here are a few helpful hangover solutions to ease the symptoms and help you make the most of your day:

Stay hydrated.

Alcohol is known to dehydrate the body. To prevent dehydration, drink eight ounces of water after each alcoholic beverage, and be sure to also drink water before going to bed. If you wake up with a dry mouth, drink more water.

If water isn’t incredibly appealing to you, try a sports drink like Gatorade, which is rich in electrolytes, and will also prevent dehydration. But if you prefer a sports drink, remember that most beverages are sugary and contain a lot of extra calories (which can be as bad for your belly as the beer you’re drinking).

Exercise.

The remedy for menstrual cramps also doubles for the awful stomach ache you’re feeling after the big party. If your hangover consists of fatigue and nausea, get out of bed (I know you don’t want to!) and out the door. A 30-minute walk outside will get your blood circulating, your lungs breathing fresh air and will totally help your tummy. Not only will exercise help your physical hangover, but it’ll also help your body and your metaphysical hangover.

Abstain from food.

If you are nauseous when you wake up, one of the worst things to do is to eat breakfast. Drink coffee if it’s absolutely necessary, but if you wait a few hours to eat, you’ll feel much better!

Have a morning cocktail.

An age-old hangover cure is the morning cocktail, preferably the Bloody Mary. Not only will the buzz help your headache, but the fructose in the tomato juice helps your body to metabolize the alcohol faster, thus ridding yourself from the icky hangover symptoms quicker. But don’t use this cure for every hangover, as habitual drinking may lead to alcoholism.

Use Excedrin and Tums.

Take Excedrin for your hangover headache and Tums for your stomach. Excedrin, which is packed with caffeine, will get you up and running in no time!

Try the new Chaser pills.

Perhaps you’ve seen the commercials for the new Chaser pills, which claim to eliminate all hangover symptoms. The pills use activated calcium carbonate and activated charcoal to absorb the hangover-causing toxins in alcohol. Take two of these babies before you start to drink, and say “sayonara” to a terrible morning.

Don’t drink.

Remember that the best way to not have to try remedies 1-6 is to not drink at all. Avoid the hangover altogether and volunteer to be your friends’ designated driver. If you do decide to drink, do it responsibly and stay safe.

For more reading about hangovers and drinking, check out: On Drink, by Kingsley Amis. Jonathan Cape Ltd.: London, 1972.

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