Need Help With a Hangover?
It’s all about moderation with many things in life (and when it comes to drinking alcohol when socializing), but let’s face it, we are not perfect and hopefully will never be.
There would be no life without ups and downs, good and bad times, boring and fun times!
This brings me to….. justifying being hungover once in a while!
I am not a big drinker, so it doesn’t take me much to feel rather unwell the day after a night out, but I have a tip for lasting out the evening, drinking less, and having fun.
I sometimes have big nights and then feel even worse (but how many of us are accepting more invitations than we did before Lockdown?).
It’s important to socialize and see people. Not only for our mental health but our immune system, and our guts are better for it, too! (Which is why alcohol is allowed on the lifestyle, by the way! If socializing means drinks (in moderation), then it is good for you.
This post will help you avoid or deal with a hangover. This is what works for me!
Why Are We So Hungry With a Hangover?
How Do You Recover From a Hangover?
How to Have Less of a Hangover
How to Treat a Hangover the Morning After
What to Eat With a Hangover
What to Drink on a Hangover
How to Get Through a Hangover
What to Drink to Avoid a Hangover
Why Are We So Hungry With a Hangover?
So here is what happens. After a couple of glasses of wine, I don’t even care about watching what I eat anymore.
The worst part is when I am ravenous the next day and can wolf down food without feeling satiated.
Sugar we ingest through alcohol (wine, cocktails) messes up our blood sugar levels. It also dehydrates us massively.
So the day after drinking, we will experience a massive drop in blood sugar levels after the high of the night before. That’s the first reason for craving food, particularly carbs.
Being dehydrated also makes us crave food as our body sometimes mistakes thirst for hunger.
Also, sleep cycles and sleep quality is affected by alcohol.
Alcohol keeps you in a light stage of sleep, and you don’t experience the deep restorative sleep necessary for good health.
During the night, sedated after alcohol (takes you from being awake but not sleeping), your body is focused on metabolizing the fermented sugars in the alcohol. That means that the deep sleep cycle is reduced.
Your liver is tasked with detoxifying the alcohol sugars, which interferes with the fat-burning process (lipolysis), disrupting sleep quality.
It doesn’t stop there because ghrelin and leptin (our hunger hormones) are regulated during sleep, which also explains that ravenous feeling.
You see, these hormones are dysregulated without good sleep, with an increase in ghrelin (hunger) and a decrease in leptin (feeling full). This explains the lack of feeling satiated when you are hungover and have had very little sleep.
You may be interested in reading about how good, regular sleep helps you lose weight.
How Do You Recover From a Hangover?
Firstly, don’t feel guilty or beat yourself up. You have had a great time, and life is to be enjoyed. Overindulging happens.
We need help with good recovery and boosting your body.
If you can begin a hangover recovery as soon as the night is over and before you go to sleep, that is a great start.
How to Have Less of a Hangover
When you come home after alcoholic drinks, drink plenty of water and have a Dioralyte (found in any pharmacy). It contains electrolytes, which will replace lost fluids much faster than water.
I also like to take a dose of paracetamol or Alka seltzer to prevent a potential headache and acidity (alcohol and sugar are acidic)*.
How to Treat a Hangover the Morning After
On rising the morning after, repeat the above. You need to rehydrate and not overtax yourself.
What to Eat With a Hangover
When I wake up after having had alcohol the night before, I crave sugar badly, and the last thing I want to eat is eggs and salmon in the morning.
So what I do is make my super yummy and nutrient-dense protein shake.
It satisfies any cravings for sweet foods. It also nourishes me while being low in carbs, stabilizing my blood sugar levels.
This protein shake is so good for you; you can feel it working well, replenishing your body.
Potassium and magnesium-rich snacks will balance and lower blood pressure, which elevates when you drink alcohol.
Snacking on bananas, avocados, and almonds aids the process of hangover recovery.
B6 from bananas and avocados will be beneficial in aiding hangover recovery, too.
You want to fill your body with nutrients and resist the urge to eat junk food. They are precisely that. Junk. They will make you feel worse ultimately.
You don’t want to punish yourself. Nourish yourself.
Eat Burn Sleep’s anti-inflammatory foods deliver what your body needs.
Later, eggs will be good for you, and you could make a Shakshuka. It is easy to put together, and your body will benefit from replenishing amino acids, antioxidants, and all of the essential nutrients/bioactive components (including B vitamins) your body needs.
One of the ingredients: coriander, for instance, balances your sugar levels, aids digestion and nausea, and helps remove heavy metals from the body.
Also, because alcohol decreases glutathione, produced by the liver and involved in many body functions, such as making chemicals and proteins needed by the body, eating eggs is good for tissue repair and replacing glutathione.
Immune-boosting chicken soup hydrates you and calms the body down. Since glutathione is also involved in immune system function, this soup is a good option.
Of course, any Eat Burn Sleep recipe aids in keeping the inflammation down, replenishing your body with nutrients, and will satisfy your hunger. All are essential for hangover recovery.
What to Drink on a Hangover
When you are hungover, ensure that you sip water and green tea all day.
Coffee may disrupt your blood sugar levels even more so when you are hungover but if you really want one, have one.
Green tea has more antioxidants than other forms of tea and is suitable for lowering blood pressure, regulating blood sugars, and burning fat (among many other health benefits). It gives you energy in a more sustained way.
Water rehydrates your body throughout the day and curbs those cravings. Fresh lemon in the water helps your liver recover, aiding hydration and detoxification. Vitamin C aids in glutathione levels, too.
How to Get Through a Hangover
You can try and do a gentle workout to get through a hangover. Maybe a jog or a yoga session. Or a walk. If the sun is shining, all the better. Some vitamin D will assist in balancing the body after drinking alcohol.
This gets your blood flowing, helps your body get rid of toxins faster, and raises your serotonin levels (the hormone for happiness). Making you feel more positive and better all around.
Later on in the day, Eat Burn Sleep members can do a meditation bath.
Go to bed early and get a good amount of sleep. Sleep should be more restorative if you have eaten nourishing hangover recovery food.
Don’t ever feel guilty about having fun; definitely let go of perfectionism. There are times when you will go off track. Just keep following an anti-inflammatory lifestyle for optimal health. Keep at it on an 80/20 ratio.
Life is to be enjoyed!
Having fun and socializing is so good for you (and, as I have already mentioned, so crucial for your immune system and gut bacteria), so it fits into having a healthy lifestyle.
What to Drink to Avoid a Hangover
Wondering what to drink and how much on a night out next time?
How much shall we allow ourselves to drink? What shall we drink? Wine, spirits? Or just let go and enjoy a few cocktails?
Drinking can be managed to optimize enjoyment during the evening and how we feel the following day.
Here is what I try to do on a night out with friends:
1/ Alternate water and alcoholic beverage to avoid a hangover.
As explained above, alcohol is very dehydrating, so if you have a glass of water between each drink, the dehydration will be less, and the side effects of alcohol will be reduced as well.
I also like to have a drink in my hand, regardless of what it is.
A little trick is to order sparkling water with ice and a slice of lemon, so people assume you are drinking alcohol (and you aren’t being a joy killer) when in fact, you are taking a little break and having water.
2/ What to drink when at a party or night out?
I try to steer clear of cocktails because they are loaded with sugar, and I would prefer to save those calories for a nice paleo muffin the next day!
Sugar makes everything worse as it ferments the alcohol, and although it gives you a buzz to start with, you feel increasingly unwell during the evening and worse the next day.
Ideally, spirits like vodka, tequila, and gin are best as they do not contain yeast. Have them with soda water, lime, and a drop of cordial if you need a little lift.
That amount of cordial is absolutely fine compared to how much sugar there would be if it were a cocktail.
Again, it is about moderation and finding the right middle ground.
3/ What about wine and champagne?
As much as I love a good glass of wine, I only have one. Maybe two!
My health issues make me feel how much yeast and sugar (from the fructose) there is in those drinks, and I invariably feel it the next day.
If you are dining out, by all means, do enjoy some good wine.
More Than One Tipple?
But if you are out just for a drink with friends and feel like you will have more than a couple, I recommend a vodka soda (which is about 60 calories as well!).
However, if you are at a party and are offered a sweet cocktail or a glass of wine/champagne, I recommend the wine/champagne every time.
Members: There’s an Overindulgence Recovery Protocol in the Membership Section, which also covers recovering from overindulging in food.
Non-Members/Members: You could make these egg muffins in advance, prior to your evening out (because chances are, you could be too ravenous to cook!).
The eggs contain amino acids, B vitamins, and other nutrients, alleviating nausea and headaches.
Also, the whole recipe is packed with nutrients that will aid in reducing toxins, balancing your sugar levels, and calming down your system, gently.
I hope this was helpful to you. If you have any tips, please share them in our members’ health community or drop me a message on Instagram.
Don’t forget to smile and enjoy having a fantastic social life!
I chat about the importance of socializing with Nick Potter in the podcast about the behavioral immune system. It’s fascinating! We talk about the immune system, gut health, and socializing (amongst many other things!). Definitely worth a listen!
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*Please check with your doctor before taking any over-the-counter medicines.
