We all know the Spanish saying “Nights of debauchery, mornings of ibuprofen”, and no saying describes New Year’s Day best like this one. The coming of a new year causes joy, happiness, hope to achieve new goals and excitement for the adventures that are to come. However, all these emotions also usually bring with them a few too many drinks. First beer while preparing the dinner and the grapes, then wine, later champagne to make a toast and, in the late hours of the night, all kinds of cocktails and mixed drinks.
An explosive cocktail ingested in high doses will make you wake up on January 1st with very little excitement. Or even not waking up due to a severe hangover. Luckily, in this article we bring you the most effective remedies to fight it and keep celebrating the New Year. Do you want to start 2017 on the right foot and without hangover? Do not miss our advice!
Stomach protector before drinking too much
To start, a very useful preventive measure. If you know that you are going to drink more than usual a certain day, as it always happens on New Year’s Eve, taking a stomach protector will be of great help. This way your stomach will be more ready to digest all that it is about to receive.
Eating 2 bananas
In general, eating fruits and vegetables is good for the hangover because of the vitamins and minerals that they provide to the body. But if we have to choose the most effective and quick way to alleviate the symptoms of having drunk too much, the banana is, without a doubt, the best option.
This fruit contains potassium, antacids and fructose, which relax the blood vessels thus reducing headache and also the nausea. It is recommended to eat two bananas as quick as possible after having drunk, either before going to bed when arriving home, either first thing in the morning. The sooner you get the lost minerals and vitamins, the better.
Drinking a lot of water
Keeping hydrated is one of the main keys to overcome a headache, since the body has lost a lot of fluids and needs to replenish urgently. For this reason, it is essential to drink a lot of water, because it will help you get rid of the toxins much quicker. If you want, you can also take other liquids like sports drinks with mineral salts and clear juices.
Taking milk thistle extract
You’re reading this right, in this list of remedies there is also a flower! The milk thistle is an herbaceous plant that usually grows on the side of roads, fields and highways, you have probably seen many in your lifetime. Milk thistle extract contains silymarin, a strong antioxidant that neutralizes the toxins in your liver. Although scientific evidences are not yet 100% confirmed, it is believed that the extract of this plant may also slow down the entry of alcohol in the liver.
Get your milk thistle extract before New Year’s Eve! You may find it in capsules or drops in most herbalist’s and take it both before and after drinking.
Eating dark chocolate
Chocolate helps raise the sugar level in the body, which facilitates the digestion of alcohol and the elimination of toxins. Also, dark chocolate has been proven to contain a molecule called oleotlethanolamide (OEA), which acts as a neuroprotector. Since one of the effects of an excessive alcohol intake is the swelling of the brain, chocolate will protect your brain cells. But of course, take it in moderation or it may cause you a bigger headache! And if you need chocolate, we have a lot of chocolate baskets in our collection 😉
A walk before going to bed
If you want to avoid the unpleasant sensation of dizziness when going to bed on New Year’s Eve, as if your room was spinning around, there is nothing better than taking a long walk before going to bed. It is not about running a marathon, but just walking for a while to clear your head while you drink water and have something to eat. Much better if it’s a banana or some dark chocolate, as we said earlier!
Things that you must NOT do
There are many myths about how to overcome a hangover, however, most of them are not only ineffective, but can worsen it. For this reason, in order to cure a hangover, you must never:
- Drink beer. Although many people claim otherwise, no kind of alcohol gets rid of the hangover, but rather extends it.
- Drink coffee. Caffeine is a gastrointestinal stimulant and we are sure that what you want the most is for it to settle in your stomach, not to stir it any more.
- Have fatty, fried or spicy foods, or foods with strong flavors like garlic or vinegar.
- Drinking milk does not help cure the hangover. In fact, it is already hard to digest for an adult, even more if there has been an alcohol ingestion.
These are the most useful and effective measures to survive a New Year’s hangover. Now you can welcome 2017 in style knowing how to alleviate its consequences. Oh! One last piece of advice before we finish: it is proven that the most effective method to avoid a hangover is not drinking any alcohol 😉
