How to Avoid Hangovers

How to avoid a hangover. It is a question that has had people musing for centuries and longer. There is an ultimate answer to this question, although it isn’t a favorite by too many. To completely and totally avoid hangovers altogether, one can simply not drink. Yes, it is a simple solution. However, many people aren’t willing to make that sacrifice and would much rather find some helpful and convenient ways to try and prevent a hangover from happening in the first place, even after a night of drinking. 

There are a lot of thoughts and theories on this topic of avoiding hangovers, and while some of them seem wildly outlandish, there are some tactics and strategies that drinkers can turn to in an effort to avoid a hangover entirely. 

Hydrating While Dehydrating

You may have heard the saying, “you gotta hydrate to dehydrate.” And while it’s a silly play on words, there is something there. A large contributor to the eventual hangover is dehydration. When the body is dehydrated it doesn’t function properly, and consuming alcohol dehydrates the body in a variety of ways.

First and foremost, alcohol is a diuretic meaning that it increases the volume of urine that is produced in the kidneys. This leads to more frequent expulsion and drains the body of both liquids and other important elements like electrolytes, minerals, and vitamins. Additionally, alcohol promotes sweating in the body. This is another avenue through which we lose liquids and other important minerals that our body relies on for functionality. Finally, in severe cases of alcohol-over-consumption, diarrhea and vomiting can occur – worsening the state of dehydration even further. 

As such, alternating between an alcoholic beverage and a glass of water can actually do wonders for your hydration levels. Rather than depleting your body of liquids altogether, alternating with water can mitigate the level of dehydration at which you end the night, or start the morning. 

There are also new solutions on the market that are aimed at preventing hangovers entirely. A hangover drink is a specially formulated beverage that can be consumed prior to your first alcoholic beverage, or any time throughout the night of drinking. The hangover drink makes use of an electrolyte concentration in addition to other herbs that are known for their hangover-relief-attributes in many home remedies. 

This cocktail of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and electrolytes keeps your body at a stable level of hydration and in turn can prevent a hangover from ever occurring. The same hangover drink can actually be used on the other end of the night as well. If you find yourself hungover, this drink can be consumed in the morning as a part of your hangover recovery process. 

Don’t Drink All Your Calories

This is a common mistake that many people make. When the drinking starts, the eating often stops. This is a problem as consuming alcohol contributes to low blood-sugar levels. Combine this with a lack of food in the system, and blood sugar levels can plummet. Rather than sticking to drinking alcohol all night, putting some food in your system (especially carbs) is a great way to balance out the level of blood-sugar in your veins, in turn, making for a much easier morning. 

In fact, a meal before you start drinking to put a baseline of carbs and calories in your tummy is a good way to make sure that you don’t over-indulge in booze. Additionally, in the event that you do wake up hungover, a hearty breakfast that is full of nutrients and vitamins will get you back on your feet in no time at all. 

Activated Charcoal 

If you’re really serious about avoiding a hangover, you could also look to certain health-supplements that exist. Activated charcoal, for instance, is a supplement that you can buy over the counter. Its main purpose is to filter chemicals and absorb toxins in the body. As such, many claim that taking activated charcoal before a night out of boozing it up is the ultimate hangover prevention. 

That being said, activated charcoal isn’t known to absorb alcohol, so this could be more of a placebo effect, but it could still be worth a try for you individually.

Avoiding Hangovers Without Giving Up Drinking

There is an infallible answer to this question of how to avoid hangovers entirely. The answer though, is to stop drinking altogether. While this works in theory, many people aren’t willing to give up their rowdy weekends with friends, and instead turn to hangover prevention. 

From hangover drinks formulated with ingredients specifically designed to combat and prevent hangovers, to getting enough high-quality rest and making sure you’ve got some food in your belly, there are plenty of ways to avoid, or at least dampen, that nasty and unwelcome but impending hangover.