Hangover Helpers!!

'Tis the season to overindulge. Drinking too much can make you feel like Santa dropped a lump of coal into your skull. So how can you avoid  getting a ho-ho-horrible hangover? There are many strategies that work.

Coconut water is loaded with potassium. It works even better if you do it before bed. It's nature's version of a sports drink, and nature does it better those gaudy colored things in the convenience store fridge. At the very least, a glass of old fashioned H2O is an essential pre-sleep, post-partying ritual. Hydration is KEY!

Take a multi-vitamin. A good, hi-potency multi, not a Centrum or a Flintstones. You'll need something high in the B vitamins, so consider the Source of Life or the Healthy Appetites brands. This also works better if you take them before retiring for the night. With a big glass of water, or coconut water, or ...
A green drink such as Green Vibrance or Evergreen frozen wheat grass. Throw it in a glass of water, coconut water or fruit juice. It will help replenish minerals, it's loaded with anti-oxidants, and it'll help you rehydrate.

Spicy foods, containing cayenne, turmeric, and ginger, help too. Cayenne is a circulatory tonic and encourages the brain to release endorphins. Turmeric is a great anti-inflammatory and ginger is one of the best herbs for nausea or headaches.

Sip a glass of green tea, or herb tea. Try this. Brew a green tea bag and a ginger tea bag together, using twice the water since you're using two bags (12 to 16 ounces of water as opposed to 6 to 8 ounces) and add a teaspoon of honey, which has some of its own healing properties.

Take Activated Charcoal, prior to bed, and if you can be so disciplined, one capsule every 4 drinks or so when celebrating. Charcoal absorbs toxins (and nutrients and medications, so keep that in mind if you are on a pharmaceutical.) If you do this, you may want to save that multi-vitamin until the morning. 

Milk Thistle is an herb that protects the liver and helps produce glutathione, the anti-oxidant amino acid that guards that organ. Artichoke is the French remedy for hangovers. It is also a renown liver tonic. Your going to need your liver to be firing on all cylinders to detoxify system of those holiday party Jello shots.

The amino acid NAC, N-Acytl-Cysteine, is a potent liver detoxifier. This is what they would give you at the hospital if you overdosed on Tylenol. 

And on that subject, both NSAIDs, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen, and the pain reliever acetaminophen, are not so great after a night of drinking. NSAIDs are rough on the stomach lining, especially after you've roughed up your insides with adult beverages. Acetaminophen is very liver toxic, so why add gas to the fire after an evening of treating your liver like a punching bag. 

The "greasy meal" cure has little scientific support. But if your stomach can handle it and it makes you happy, go ahead and indulge. Throw some cayenne or hot sauce on those eggs and accompany them with plenty of hydrating beverages. Eggs yolks contain cysteine too, that will help battle some of alcohol's toxic effects.

That morning-after "hair of the dog" Bloody Mary or mimosa isn't a great idea either. It may temporarily take the edge off (or make you hurl, you never know) but it just adds insult to injury, in your body's opinion. It just delays the inevitable, so suck it up and use one of the previously listed remedies. Your liver, your head, and your stomach will thank you.

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