Having a hangover can prevent a person from delivering on his or her mandate. Most people like drinking, especially over the weekends. This is because they know that by Monday, they will be okay and able to deliver on their activities. By this time, people feel that the drinking hangover would be over. However, this is not always the case. There are times when a person is expected to meet some deadline but fails due to hangovers. Therefore, it is essential to know how to prevent hangovers if you have to attend to some deadlines. As a result, we have compiled a list of evidence-based practices on how to prevent hangovers effectively.
Hydrate Your Body
After drinking, many people end up urinating frequently. Do you know what causes that feeling? Alcohol is classified under the diuretic substances. According to research, diuretic substances increase the urge of a person to urinate. Therefore, this explains why most people are seen frequently urinating after drinking. However, what you should know is that frequent urination dehydrates a person, which affects the body’s metabolism.
The best practice to prevent hangovers is drinking water alongside alcohol. The water taken keeps the body hydrated even if you urinate a lot after drinking. Therefore, this keeps your body’s metabolism in the right condition, which prevents you from hangovers. The relationship between hangover and dehydration is linked to dehydration symptoms like thirst, headache, and fatigue.
Have a Conducive Sleep
Getting enough sleep after drinking helps to reduces the effects of drinking, like hangovers. However, it has been proven that alcohol affects both the quality and duration of sleep. In most cases, people drink at night, making it difficult for them to go to bed at the right time. Lak of sleep contributes immensely to some of the causes of hangovers. If your sleep is distracted, the chances are that you will wake up exhausted and feeling headache. These conditions are associated with hangovers; therefore, sleep has a direct impact on how your body operates.
To recover after drinking, you should get plenty of sleep. It has been medically proven that enough sleep aids in the efficient recovery of the body after drinking. As a result, to prevent hangovers, ensure to have enough sleep after drinking. It is recommended to have at least 8 hours of undistracted sleep.
Take a heavy Breakfast.
According to medical research, hangovers are linked to hypoglycemia; low levels of blood sugar. Moreover, people with low blood sugar levels are prone to hangovers. Having a nutritious breakfast after drinking out is the best way to start your day. The meal ensures that your body’s metabolism is not distracted and that your blood sugar level is maintained. Having a good breakfast is a known remedy for hangovers as it restores blood sugar levels. Therefore, this mitigates some of the symptoms of hangovers.
Eat Before You Drink
Alcohol is absorbed quickly by the small intestine. However, alcohol is absorbed differently by different people. For example, women and children are considered to have a high alcohol absorption rate compared to men. The longer alcohol stays in the stomach, the slower it is absorbed and the slower it affects the body. Food prevents alcohol from quickly passing into the small intestines. Therefore, when you eat before drinking, alcohol is absorbed more slowly, mitigating its impact on your body. In this case, this cannot miss on how to prevent hangover effectively.
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Drink in Moderation
Hangovers are directly proportional to the amount of alcohol in the body. Therefore, the more alcohol you take, the severe the hangover you will have. It is, therefore, necessary to moderate your drinking. However, the safe amount to drink varies from person to person, as dictated by the rate at which the body absorbs alcohol. Moreover, the safe amount of alcohol to drink is affected by the amount of food taken, water, and the quality and duration of sleep.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stipulate that alcohol should only be consumed by legal age people. Furthermore, these people should consume alcohol moderately. The recommended alcohol quantity, according to CDC, is:
- Women should only have one drink per day.
- Men should have up to two drinks per day.
However, these guidelines only apply to drinks with the following components:
- 12 ounces (oz) of 5 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) beer
- 8oz of 7 percent ABV malt liquor
- 5 oz of a 12 percent ABV wine
- 1.5 oz of a 40 percent ABV distilled spirit or liquor
Pacing Your Alcohol Intake
Pacing yourself as you drink can never miss on how to prevent hangovers effectively. When you Pacing yourself as you drink, you allow your body enough time to process the drink. In this case, you do not overwork your body with alcohol to the point that it cannot process the alcohol effectively. A body can process one standard drink every hour. Therefore, you should pace yourself with this time as you drink to avoid hangovers. Finally, when you drink slowly, you will have taken less alcohol overall.
Use Supplements
It has been medically proven that low-grade inflammation leads to hangovers. Inflammation is essential as it aids the body in repairing damaged tissues and fighting infections. Therefore, this illustrates the importance of anti-inflammatory drugs in eliminating hangovers. It would be best if you focused on supplements, even plant-based, that reduce inflammation as they will help you prevent hangovers. Some of these supplements include ginger, red ginseng, and prickly pear.
Conclusion
When you sober up after drinking, you will experience dizziness, headache, nausea, and fatigue. These symptoms are referred to as hangovers. There are different strategies to be used to reduce the severity of these hangovers. As has been illustrated, you should aim at finding out which of these strategies fits you as people have different ways of eliminating hangovers. Therefore, it is essential to experiment with these strategies to find out which ones fit your body. If you follow this guide on how to prevent hangovers effectively, hangovers will be a thing of the past.
