Prevention

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"

Before you even take your first sip, start treating your hangover by avoiding it altogether.

The key to preventing a hangover? Preparation!

Drink lots of water 

To start with, hydrate as much as possible. Drink plenty of water the day leading up to your party or special event, and drink water while drinking alcohol. Either choose a drink with water in it, like a gin and tonic or have some sips of water while you're drinking your favorite cocktail.  Even better, alternate one drink with one glass of water.  Not only will this keep you hydrated, it will keep you in the bathroom all night, limiting the amount of time you have to drink

Avoid drinks with sugar

If all your favorite drinks come with a pretty paper umbrella, you need to pay special attention to this one.  Sugar worsens your hangover symptoms and it packs on fat.  Save the fru-fru drinks for special occasions only.  Stick with drinks without added sugars and syrups.   

Choose light-colored liquor

Stick with light or clear liquors like vodka, rum, and gin.  Avoid darker liquors like burbon and whiskey if you tend to get bad hangovers.   

Eat something first

I know you've heard this one before and for good reason.  Drinking on an empty stomach is a recipe for disaster. Think of food as a buffer between the alchol and the lining of your stomach.  The slower the alcohol hits that lining, the slower the alcohol will take affect and the less likely you will have a hangover. 

Drink slowly

When you drink fast, the alcohol not only hits your system a lot harder, but you don’t realize how drunk you are getting.  You'll end up drinking more, getting more drunk and feeling more miserable the next day.  Slow your drinking down by alternating with glasses of water.

If it's too late for prevention, keep reading to find out more ways to naturally nurse your hangover symptoms.

Hydrate

Once prevention is a lost cause, re-hydrating is the best way to nurse a bad hangover.  Alcohol and sugar are super dehydrating which causes those debilitating headaches and overwhelming fatigue.  If your body is trying to expel the excess alcohol in the form of vomitting, you are even more dehydrated.  

Rehydrating with lots of water relieves hangover symptoms by helping clear the toxins from your body more quickly.  

Drink More Water

Plain and simple, you need to drink more water when you have a hangover. You decide how you like your water.  If your nauseous, you might like your water at room temperature.  Adding some ginger and/or lemon to your water will speed the detoxification process.  If your stomach is really sensitive, you might want some warm tea.  

Don't gulp or drink too quickly. Sip slowly to avoid more stomach upset.

Try Coconut Water

Coconut water is refreshing and jam-packed with vitamins, nutrients, and electrolytes (including more potassium than a banana) and is super hydrating.  

This brand acutally tastes good.  

Try Kombucha

Kombucha is a fermented tea full of anti-oxidants, probiotics and vitamins.  It helps with detoxification, digestion and gut health.  

Get More Sleep

When you wake up with that god-awful hangover in the morning, with the pounding headache, dizziness, nausea, and wekaness, it probably doesn't take much to convince you to go back to bed.   

After you take some sips of water or have a little tea, try to go back to sleep. Even if you don’t fall asleep, extra rest will be your best friend. Don’t assume you can just get up and go about your day like you normally would. This doesn’t mean you should stay in bed all day, (like your family would actually let you) but you should definitely give yourself some extra time to rest.

If your little ones are demanding your attention, it won't be the end of the world to let the Disney Channel entertain them for a little bit while you nap on the couch.  This is survival mode, not be the perfect mom mode. 

The good news is that hangover symptoms typically only stick around for a few hours, and rarely more than 24 hours. Unless you're feeling your age, then it could last a few days

Eat Bland Foods

When you do finally get up, you need to get some food in your stomach.  That can be tough when your nauseous.   

Stick to Bland Foods

For starters, you want to stick to bland foodd. Avoid anything with sugar, lots of fat and spices.  Think about what you eat when you have the flu or morning sickness and stick with those foods. 

Dry crackers
Toast – dry or with butter
Mashed potatoes
Broth
Bananas

Don’t force yourself to eat anything that isn’t appetizing. If a banana makes your stomach churn, skip it and try a few crackers instead.

Eat Slowly

Baby steps!  Everything you do when you have a hangover should be done slowly and carefully.  Nibble on your crackers, eat just one piece of dry toast, and sip at your broth.

Eat Smaller Meals

Graze on small meals and snacks throughout the day.  Avoid taxing your digestive system with a large, hard to digest meals.  

Try Herbs

After hydrating, getting more sleep and eating boring, bland foods, try some of Mother Nature's cures.

Ginger

Ginger is great for nausea and digestive woes.  Make a tea with fresh grated ginger, lemon and raw honey.  Sip on this throughout the day and you will be feeling better in no time.  

Tumeric

Tumeric is anti-inflammatory and can help with any pain or discomfort you feel after a night of drinking.  Try this brand for high bioavailability. 

Aloe

This miracle herb helps with so many things from sunburns to headaches, and now you can use it to find relief for your hangover.   Aloe not only helps with your headache, but it can coat your stomach lining to reduce the acidity that is causing your nausea. Try picking up some natural aloe juice.

Milk Thistle

Milk Thistle helps to cleanse and heal your liver.  Your liver takes a beating after a night of drinking, give it a natural boost with some milk thistle. 

Take a Vitamin B Supplement

Taking vitamins and minerals on a regular basis is a general good rule of thumb.   B vitamins are especially helpful in combating hangovers. 

Alcohol naturally depletes your vitamin stores, so you'll want to replenish with a multi-vitamin.  And you should take extra B vitamins because they help detox your liver.  Try this high-potency vitamin B complex. 

Make a Hangover Tonic

If you are dealing with a pounding headache, dizziness, and nausea right now, you might not have the energy to get in the kitchen and make a tonic.  Try to suck it up and get these healing tonics into your system!

Fresh Juice

Raid your fridge and dust off your juicer.  Fresh juices will instantly hydrate and nourish you.  They also help purge the toxins from your cells.  If you don't have a juicer, use a high speed blender and a fine strainer.  

Try a combination of carrots, celery, apples, lemon, and ginger.    

Coconut Smoothie

Add coconut water, raw honey, frozen pineapple, ginger and lime to your blender.  Add ice if needed.  Blend and sip.  Maybe even try to pretend your relaxing on the warm beach (and not stuck at home with a miserable hangover).  

Use Essential Oils

Essential oils are a simple and effective way to alleviate hangover symptoms.  Whether you use them through inhalation, topically or internally, they have powerful anti-nausea and detoxification properties.  

Add some essntial oils and some Epsom Salts to a hot bath for some relaxation and detoxification.  This will help your fatigue, nausea and headache.  

Some of the best essential oils for a hangover are lemon, lavender, peppermint, ginger, grapefruit, rosemary and juniper berry.  

For more information on how to use essential oils to keep you healthy and full of energy, sign up for my free e-course.

The one good thing about hangovers is they are usually evidence of a night of fun.  Although regular drinking is not the best way to live a healthy lifestyle, a fun, relaxing night out can sometimes be the best medicine.  

Everybody deserves a break now and then and if that means a night out with a few drinks, cheers to you

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