We have all experienced a few hangovers over the years!
Apart from not drinking as much, which is always a good idea in hindsight, there are lots of theories on the best cure for that grim feeling the morning after.
So what really works?
The actual name for a hangover is veisalgia, which is the Norwegian word for ‘uneasiness following debauchery’ combined with the Greek word for ‘pain’.
Pretty appropriate after a big night out!
The common symptoms for a hangover include a poor sense of wellbeing, headache, sensitivity to light or sounds, diarrhea, loss of appetite, trembling, nausea, fatigue, increased heart rate and blood pressure, dehydration, trouble concentrating, difficulty sleeping and weakness.
You may have experienced one or two of these symptoms on a Sunday morning!
This varies for each person but generally the more alcohol we consume, the worse the hangover.
Other factors that can make your hangover worse are drinking on an empty stomach, lack of sleep, dehydration, poor health and increased physical activity like busting moves on the dance floor.
When we drink alcohol it enters the bloodstream, which triggers the pituitary gland in the brain and inhibits the production of vasopressin, an antidiuretic hormone.
The kidneys then have to direct water to the bladder instead of reabsorbing it throughout the body.
That’s why after your first bathroom visit you will keep making frequent trips, which explains all those long queues outside the toilets on your big night out.
Drinking about 250 millilitres of an alcoholic drink forces the body to expel 800 to 1000 millilitres of water. That equates to four times as much liquid lost as gained which completely dehydrates the body.
This is why we wake up with a mouth as dry as the desert.
It’s the body sending us a message to replenish our water supply.
We also experience headaches as the organs in our body try to restore their water supply by scavenging water from the brain causing it to shrink in size and pulling on the membrane that connects the brain to the skull giving you that pounding head feeling.
So what’s the best cure for a hangover?
Time and water.
No matter what concoction of hangover remedies you try the body still needs time to detoxify and flush out all the toxins.
Drinking lots of water will hydrate the body and start to make you feel normal again. Remember this the next time you wake up after having one too many.