I know I’m not alone when I say this – I absolutely hate hangovers. I hate that awful squeezing headache that lingers around for what seems like an eternity.
I hate that weird foggy feeling I have when I even attempt to walk to the kitchen. I hate feeling like I am lagging in real life.
Feeling sick, being sick – I hate it all. But what if there was a way to combat hangovers, or better yet, get rid of them altogether?
Here’s your ultimate guide to surviving – or better yet, preventing – those awful hangovers. Because after all, going to those 9ams is still important, even if its in the morning after an Ocean Wednesday.
What is a hangover?
Put simply, a hangover is a set of symptoms that occur after drinking too much alcohol. Typical symptoms include fatigue, weakness, thirst, headache, muscle aches and nausea (the list, as you know, goes on).
You don’t need to be Isaac Newton to work out the more alcohol you drink, the worse your hangover will be. Hangovers, however, can be reduced and sometimes even banished all together.
Mythbusted?
Me and a friend were having a healthy debate about hangovers the other day. She told me that “It doesn’t matter if it’s gin, vodka or even ale, all hangovers are the same.”
I had to blurt out my concerning amount of alcohol knowledge and correct her, as numerous studies have shown that if an alcohol is higher in congeners (chemicals found in alcoholic beverages that can contribute to the taste, smell, and appearance of the drink), it usually results in a much worse hangover.
“Well Nathan, spill the beans, what should I drink to say goodbye to those ghastly hangovers”, she replied. Clearer alcohols such as vodka, gin and white rum have lower congener levels than wine and beer for example.
Vodka in particular is a purely ethanol based drink with minimum congeners. “Great, vodka it is.”
Woah, slow down, there is more to killing a hangover than just choosing the right type of alcohol.
Top tips
Now you’ve chosen the alcohol with the least amount of congeners, you’ll no doubt be feeling smug as you look over at your mates in The Gooseberry Bush pub, knowing you’ll be the only one waking up with a fresh head in the morning.
Unfortunately it’s not that straightforward, and there’s a couple more steps you should take to ensure you minimise that hangover.
- Drink a glass of water after each drink. This maximises hydration, which will reduce allot of de-hydration related hangover symptoms like fatigue.
- Eat a nice meal before you start necking those doubles. This slows down how quickly your body absorbs alcohol, allowing your body to better manage the alcohol.
- If you remember, drink a big glass of water before bed, this is my number one cheat code, I wish I knew this hack before those Ocean nights.
- And of course, don’t drink too fast!
Its not a guarantee
Following this guide may not 100% prevent a hangover. If it did, I would be on a beach somewhere.
But if you put a couple of these tips into action, it may make those morning lecturers that bit more bearable. Sure, you’ll likely still wake up feeling bad, but maybe not as bad.