Posted on 12/29/2012 1:15:56 AM PST by nickcarraway
Myth: Coffee ... or vitamins ... or something else ... is clinically proven to cure a hangover.
Fact: There will be a lot to toast to this New Year's Eve, but if you're hoping a strong pot of coffee, an over-the-counter painkiller or a strange blended concoction you read about online will cure your hangover the next morning, think again.
The British Medical Journal determined that, despite the thousands of alleged cures you can find with a Google search, most aren't clinically tested, and the ones that are don't work, though some may ease certain hangover symptoms.
In 2005, researchers combed databases and conference proceedings and talked to pharmacists and drug manufacturers looking for any hangover cure studies they could get their hands on. They came up with only 15, and they disqualified seven of those for faulty research methods. The remaining studies tested propranolol, a beta-blocking medication often used to treat heart conditions; tropisetron, a prescription commonly given to ease nausea in chemotherapy patients; and the anti-inflammatory painkiller tolfenamic acid. The researchers also looked at the simple sugars, fructose and glucose, as well as a yeast-based concoction and three plant-based dietary supplements.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
“... now stock coolers of pickle juice during summer workouts..”
What’s old is new again. My son’s coach is 48 years old. He suggested pickle juice for the football players since it worked so well “when he was in high school”. Granted... if you aren’t a pickle lover the juice can go down might rough.
I don’t drink to that extent anymore, but: an aspirin before bed, lots of water, and then a 3 mile run very first thing in the morning.
Drink lots of nonalcoholic fluids after you're done, get something to eat. Protein and fat. A good greasy burger and fries, for instance. Or, an all night greasy spoon diner, full breakfast.
A pack of those headache powders common down here in the south along with a Mountain Dew the next morning, and you're good to go. Straight into your system, knocks it out as quickly as anything. Hard on your stomach, though. Some can't tolerate them.
I drank for fun and socializing for over a decade, had a “home” bar, knew everybody there, drank a great deal. You do build a tolerance.
I never could do the hair of the dog thing, alcohol the morning after was repulsive to me. But, when I stopped drinking, I did it cold turkey. The hardest thing was leaving all the people behind, I didn't quite know what to do with myself.
But, I also had a physical reaction. Loss of sleep, sweating, it was like a minor case of withdrawal. Even without drinking first thing, I think I must have had an elevated blood alcohol level for years. It sure felt different, and it was a challenging couple of weeks to get through.
I'll have a drink occasionally, now that the habit is broken. I never did really crave it or need it, I just did it for entertainment I suppose.
The trick to avoiding a hangover in the first place is by following the “Russian rules” for drinking.
One hour before drinking hard liquor, it’s important to eat things that will slow down absorption in the stomach. The best bet is to eat a couple of boiled potatoes, with two tablespoons of olive oil poured over them, and given a good salting. Then the odd part, a couple of raw eggs, which since you probably don’t want to eat them straight, make a two-egg eggnog. The raw eggs are the most important part, and they must be raw, as cooking changes their character and chemistry.
When you drink, do not mix your drinks with anything other than water. Especially not anything carbonated. Stick to one kind of alcohol all evening.
Drink in shots, and do not sip. And after each shot, consume hors d’oeuvres that are acidic, salty and oily, such as citrus, pickled foods and greasy meats and cooked eggs. It is also acceptable to eat breads with them.
After doing this drink and nosh for a while, you want to move to a regular dinner along with your drinks. Hot food and fresh bread are your best allies at this point, along with dessert.
All told, this should be stretched out 4-5 hours. You will feel more full and less drunk.
It’s really actually very easy. Hangovers are caused by dehydration and toxins.
Pre-hydrate
drink good stuff (less toxins)
rehydrate
You arm your body, you less damage, then you help it heal.
You jest but that’s how alcoholics are made. They just don’t sober up.
I never did really crave it or need it, I just did it for entertainment I suppose.
You made a statement in the first sentence then spent the remainder of your post dis-proving it.
You’re either reading something into what I wrote that I didn’t actually write, or you’ve misread what was written by me.
I stopped drinking on my own, for over a year due to a health issue, specifically gout which is exacerbated by alcohol use. I never could drink first thing in the morning, it repulsed me. I drank in the evening with friends. I drank to excess, true. Some would call that a form of alcoholism. But, it was not an addiction. I don’t need or crave alcohol and never have, even when I was experiencing some effect from discontinuing the consumption of it.
I drink very little now. I am not afraid of it, however, because it is not an irresistable thing for me. A mixed drink or two with friends, a glass of good wine with a nice dinner, it’s enjoyable and it adds to the enjoyment of the experience.
To someone completely opposed to all consumption of alcohol, whether from past personal experiences of their own or from a severe religious interpretation, I suppose that could be spun into something entirely different.
Is this where you’re coming from? Must be, because it makes no logical sense otherwise.
You said people become alcoholics from constant drinking. You then described your years of constant drinking, but the last sentence says you were never an alcoholic. I don’t see how I could say it any plainer. Your entire post contradicts your very first statement.
But I didn’t drink constantly. Returning to your original reply to which I responded, getting up and drinking first thing after a night of drinking apparently does forestall the effects of a hangover. Keep at it like that and there are some pretty severe effects from not having a drink, so severe that they just keep on drinking. Classic alcoholic, bottles stashed here and there wherever they are.
My comments have absolutely nothing to do with drinking. They are 100% about your contradictory statements. I am sure you know what you meant to say, but apparently you cannot see that that is not what you said. Maybe this will help you....http://www.englishmaven.org/Pages/Reading%20Comprehension.htm
“I drink very little now. I am not afraid of it, however, because it is not an irresistable thing for me. A mixed drink or two with friends, a glass of good wine with a nice dinner, it’s enjoyable and it adds to the enjoyment of the experience.”
Same here, the only time I see heavier drinking in my routine is when I play hold em with the guys. You get to talking, gambling and next thing I know I’m on my 4th scotch. I’ve slowed considerably...no reason to go over the top these days.
You’re reading contradiction into comments that contained none, in response to your joking reply that the way to avoid a hangover was to never sober up.
I replied that while you were joking, alcoholics are made that way, meaning never sobering up. I then related my own experiences in drinking to excess for any number of years. I never sought to remain drunk to avoid the consequences of sobering up. I went through it every morning. Never had any desire to start drinking again first thing in the morning or even through the day. It was a social thing for me, I drank with friends. Never kept alcohol in the house unless I was having people over. Drinking alone was and is sort of depressing.
If you’d bother to pin down just exactly what it is that you find contradictory in our exchange, rather than looking to win the internets, maybe this would be a much more shortlived exercise, at least on my part.
You are beyond help or hope. Have a nice day.
Sort of a been there, done that feeling, right? It was enjoyable at the time but you reach a point when it seems pointless and scale it way back, other than rare occasions when you’re having fun and not paying attention.
You scale it way back unless you’ve gotten yourself addicted and can’t, that is. There is that risk, didn’t happen in my instance or yours. The thought of never having another drink doesn’t bother me, if I had to do so out of necessity. Some meals and some social occasions would be a little diminished without it, but life would go on largely as before.
Woo-hoo, you won the internets!
You have a nice evening yourself.
Long ago, certain friends who worked in the Med Group (AF) kept a few IV bags in their barracks lockers. I guess rehydrating really helped with hangovers.
The best bet is to eat a couple of boiled potatoes, with two tablespoons of olive oil poured over them, and given a good salting.
I knew a Greek lady who would take a swig of olive oil between every few drinks. She drank a lot of guys under the table.
Alcohol consumption in quantity upsets the body’s Krebs Cycle...
One big thing to do is keep hydrated while drinking alcohol...Drink a glass of water between alcoholic beverages...Eat a meal before drinking...
Drinking alcohol stimulates the pituitary gland to block production of vasopressin (the anti-diuretic hormone)...
The kidneys then send water directly to the bladder the body would usually reabsorb…
That’s why we have to urinate so much when we drink…
We eliminate about 4 times the volume of water as the drink volume taken in, and the after effects taken all together are what we call a hangover…
Morning after dry mouth and headache result because the body’s internal organs are dehydrated, and try to make up the lost water from elsewhere, mainly the brain…
As the brain loses water it shrinks away from the skull, and it pulls on membranes attaching it to the skull causing pain…
The brain’s also deprived of it’s fuel, glucose, and this accounts for the light headedness and fatigue…
And as alcohol is metabolized, the by products add to the overall lousy feeling until they’re eventually cleared out of the blood…
Excess urination expels B vitamins and replenishing them helps…
So, after drinking alcohol in quantity, and before going to bed, take a dose of B Complex, heavy on B12 (the excess will be eliminated with urine), a dose of aspirin or Excedrin-type headache OTC meds, and drink at least 2-12 oz glasses of cool water…
This whole complex was explained to me by a long-time field paramedic, and it has worked for me for 35+ years…
Try it, you’ve got nothing to lose but that lousy feeling...
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