Here’s some top tips to continue the party but avoid the hangover, CRAZY.
- Make sure it’s clear – So if you’re going to have alcohol, it’s best to make sure it’s clear.
A few examples include: Vodka, Gin, Sake. Yes as much as I hate to say it drinking spirits will give you the best chance of a minimal hangover, vodka especially. A study by the British Medical Association found it to be the best of an obviously bad bunch, because it contains few congeners. Congeners are impurities in alcohol that come about as a result of fermentation and that the body struggles to process. They also contribute to the sick feeling you get the morning after. A Brown University study in 2009 found that dark alcohol contained more chemical congeners than lighter ones. For example, researchers found that on average bourbon has 37 times more chemicals than vodka. The same rule applies across the board, so red wine and beer are also likely to contain more congeners. - Selective with your Mixer – An innocent choice nonetheless, does impact on your hangover. Sugar or carbonated drinks cause your stomach to bloat and empty faster. What that means is you absorb alcohol faster, feel its effects sooner, your blood alcohol level increases and so does dehydration, Professor Jim Schaefer told Men’s Fitness. Therefore, the more sugar your mixer has the worse your hangover is likely to be. The best option? Vodka and water. Add a slice of lime (not cordial, as that’s pretty much pure sugar) to make it more palatable.
- Avoid the Darker drinks – Red wine is typically worse for a hangover than white wine, and that dark beer is worse than light beer. The quality of the drink can also affect the hangover, with low quality wines more likely to contribute to a bad hangover. Again this comes down to congeners, those bad chemicals that your body can’t process. The general perception is that because lower quality alcohol begins with lower quality ingredients more chemicals will be produced during fermentation.
- Usually drink, usually dance, usually bubble. Bubbles are bad! I repeat, bubbles are bad! Much like the mixer theory, the carbon dioxide in champagne helps absorb alcohol. Boris Tabakoff, a pharmacology professor at the University of Colorado, told ABC News: ‘You get a faster rate of absorption, higher blood alcohol levels — and brain levels — if you drink champagne as opposed to something non-carbonated.’ A study at the University of Surrey found that alcohol levels rose much faster among people given carbonated drinks than those that weren’t. The study found that after just five minutes, the people drinking bubbly drinks had an average of 0.54 milligrams of alcohol per millilitre of blood. Those drinking flat champagne averaged just 0.39 milligrams of alcohol.
Water Theory - Drowning in the H20 after a night out may not dampen that hangover the next day.
A Dutch study found last year that those who drank water alongside alcohol only experienced marginal improvements. Researchers asked 826 students about their most recent heavy drinking session, how severe any hangovers were and whether or not they had food or water after the alcohol. A total of 449 of the students (54.4%) reported eating or drinking water after consuming alcohol. The lead researcher, Dr Joris Verster, said students reported consuming food or water also reported a slight statistical improvement in how they felt but that this did not translate into anything meaningful. The water myth may come from the fact drinking water prevents dehydration, a by-product of drinking, but it won’t prevent things like nausea. Dr Verster added: ‘Dehydration is an effect of alcohol, but not the cause of the hangover. It’s more likely that the immune system is involved.’ But drinking something like coconut water before or after you start drinking could have a positive effect, nutritionist Yoko Inoue suggests, because coconut water contains potassium and other electrolytes. - Kebab and cheesy chips? Heavy carbs and greasy foods aren’t all they cut out to be, that’s because those carbs cause a big spike in blood sugar and then an inevitable crash. Key ingrediants to watch out for would be turmeric, beetroot, kale, berries, garlic and lemon; not too sure if you can grab that at the local food joint at 3am but worth a shot I suppose?
