A hangover is not an ailment in itself, but is the term used to describe a combination of symptoms that are caused due to excessive drinking. Typically visible after a night of excessive or binge drinking, hangovers can cause acute physical discomfort. Hangovers can be debilitating and affect the quality of life, including your work and your ability to function coherently.
The symptoms of a hangover are essentially your
body’s way of eliminating the toxins in your system. That’s why the symptoms can be painful and uncomfortable, as your body does whatever it can to eject the poisons out of your body. You can do little but let it happen, as the sooner you let the symptoms wash over you and the sooner your body finishes its job, the better you will feel.
Symptoms of Hangover
Depending on how much alcohol you have consumed, your symptoms of a hangover can range from mild discomfort to acute pain. You may experience all or some of the symptoms of a hangover. You might experience some more symptoms as well. Hangovers tend to be different with different people.
You might feel dizzy, nauseous and stumble around with bloodshot eyes while clutching at your head with a splitting headache. Nausea is a very common symptom of a hangover. Along with nausea, retching, vomiting and a delicate stomach are also all common symptoms of a hangover. In some cases, you may also have a fever till your body ejects all the toxins.
Your body naturally produces glutamine as a stimulant. When you drink a lot of alcohol, the body is unable to produce glutamine. Once you stop drinking, your body tries to make up by producing more glutamine. This results in overstimulation of the brain. As a result, when you wake up after a night of excessive drinking, the body and mind have different energy levels, often resulting in a feeling of fatigue.
Causes of Hangover
While knowing that drinking a lot of liquor can cause a hangover, it is not the only possible cause for a hangover. When you have a drink, the liquor mixes in your blood and gives you a high. If you consume alcohol on an empty stomach, it is absorbed more quickly and therefore seems potent, while if you have some food in your stomach, alcohol will mix slowly. The severity of your hangover depends on how fast or slow alcohol mixes in your system.
Drinking adulterated or impure alcohol or alcohol with excessive additives could also lead to acute hangovers. If it is impure alcohol, then even a single drink can cause vomiting because in such cases the extent of the hangover symptoms is not influenced by quality alone. Ethanol is a common impurity in alcoholic drinks. It can metabolize into acetaldehyde, which is a carcinogen and can be extremely harmful. Other impurities are sometimes added to make a drink sweeter or more palatable, and these can also have negative effects. Vomiting may be more bothersome and cause you to feel a lot sicker, but it is the most effective mechanism for your body to eliminate wastes. Vomiting can significantly reduce the severity of a hangover as it expels most of the harmful toxins in the body.
Alcohol causes dehydration, which also contributes to symptoms of hangovers like headaches, fatigue and ‘cotton mouth’. Drinking alcohol has a diuretic effect because alcohol suppresses vasopressin from the pituitary gland, which in turn sends liquids consumed directly to the bladder. Urinating frequently while drinking can also increase the intensity of the hangover. Alcohol is known to damage the stomach lining too, which can lead to diarrhea and nausea.
Remedies for Hangover
Hangover remedies or cures are just as popular as drinking and getting a hangover in the first place. Every culture has its own hangover remedy, some of which are alcoholic beverages themselves. However, the important thing to remember is that once you wake up with symptoms of excessive alcohol consumption, you should simply let your body expel the toxins in any manner necessary. You need to overcome the symptoms to get rid of the hangover.
The treatment for hangovers primarily consists of learning to bear the symptoms till their intensity reduces. There are no real treatments for a hangover, but there are many home remedies and old wives’ tales. The best way to keep hangovers at bay or the symptoms to the minimum is to stay well nourished and hydrated through the time you are consuming alcohol:
A popular home remedy involves apple cider vinegar. Mix the vinegar with some soda bicarbonate or baking soda in water. This mixture is believed to replace important minerals and electrolytes in your body that have been exhausted after a night of drinking.
Another popular home remedy is honey, lemon and pepper. This combination helps level blood sugar, relieves pain and adds vitamin C which also ejects toxins from your body.
Ginger in hot water or brewed as tea is also believed to be very good for hangover symptoms. Its anti inflammatory properties reduce the burning and pain you might feel from excessive indulgence.
A glass of tomato juice with lots of pepper in it can also work wonders. If you are up to it, crack an egg into it.
Some over-the-counter painkiller drugs might also do the trick. Some remedies suggest having a couple of pills before drinking while others suggest popping a couple of pills before you hit the bed. What you must remember is that alcohol does not always mix well with drugs and such experiments can lead to long-term damage to your organs.
Of course the thing to remember here is that while these are called home remedies, not all of them are known to work. Listen to your body and try to do things intuitively, and also understand how a hangover works. The few things that can help are lots of water, lots of rest and certainly no more alcohol. It is a popular myth that more alcohol helps reduce hangover symptoms.
Diet for Hangover
When you are suffering from a hangover, you usually will not want to eat any food. However, eating food might actually help you as it will regulate your blood sugar and prevent further distress from the symptoms.
Popular hangover remedies suggest eating a carbohydrate-rich diet with fried foods. This might not always work but it has been known to help. If you aren’t sure of what kind of food to eat, stick to plain, bland food. Eating bread or rice or other starch heavy food could help. You should concentrate on food that is high in fiber so that your sugar levels stay steady for longer.
Vitamins, drinks with electrolytes and plain water – all can help you feel better without feeling like throwing up. It’s tempting to drink coffee but caffeine after a night out drinking can make you feel fatigued even more. It might even make your symptoms last longer. Popular breakfasts include fried eggs, bacon, hash browns with toast and orange juice. Listen to your body and don’t eat rich foods if you think you might not be able to digest them.
Reference
http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/002041.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002041.htm
Suggestion for Hangover
There are many tips out there to avoid hangovers. The best one is, of course, to drink in moderation and be aware of your responsibilities. In addition:
Eat well before heading out for a night about town.
Accompany every drink with a glass of water to reduce your dehydration.
Try not to mix spirits.
You can even try hangover pills, at your peril though. These pills can contain harmful ingredients and you should only consume them if you can identify the ingredients.
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