5 Ways to Prevent a Hangover

Do you find yourself going out on the weekends with friends but dreading how you will feel the morning after? If so, you're not alone. Hanging out at bars with friends has been a leading social pasttime for centuries now and is a great way to relieve the stress of a long work week. Drinking allows for us to loosen up, become more sociable where we might otherwise hold back, and makes many events more entertaining and enjoyable. Unfortunately it does not take much for many of us to feel the detrimental effects alcohol can have on our system the next day, such as, headaches, nausea, stomachaches, tiredness, etc. I'm here to present five ways to help alleviate the negative effects of a bad hangover without sacrificing a night on the town.

1.) Drink tons of water. Alcohol dehydrates your body, so you want to up your fluid intake before, during, and after consuming alchohol. The great thing is, water is usually free at bars, so you shouldn't have an excuse for not being able to have access to it. Women might also consider carrying a small water bottle in their purse if they are somewhere water is not easily accessible.

2.) Eat something. When we drink, our body sometimes gets depleted of the necessary nutrients it needs. By eating something easily digestible that is healthy, we can help regain essential amino acids that have been lost. Try eating something like yogurt, bread, or crackers to also help calm your stomach. The presence of food in the stomach helps decrease the concentration of alcohol by diluting it. This will slow down the absorption of the alcohol and allow your body more time to metabolize harmful toxins.

3.) Avoid certain drinks. Certain types of alcohol can actually raise your chance of getting a hangover, so avoid them like the plague. Do not mix different types of alcohol because your body takes longer to individualize and metabolize the different types. Avoid carbonated drinks like sparkling wine because these speed up the absorption of alcohol. Be wary of cheap liquors because they do not undergo the same extensive distillation process as their more expensive counterparts, leaving congeners that will make you ill. Try to steer clear of very sugary, fruity drinks as you'll be more likely to drink them in excess because the alcohol taste is disguised. Red wine can also be misleading due to its so called health benefits, but if drunk in excess can produce one of the nastiest hangovers known to mankind. It contains a substance called tyramine which is thought by some to cause headaches.

4.) Take a Vitamin Supplement. Many experts recommend taking a B-complex vitamin with vitamin C before and after you drink alcohol. A deficiency in thiamine (Vitamin B-1) makes it harder for your body to break down the alcohol, hence why taking the vitamin could help boost B-1 levels easing alcohol absorption.

And last but not least.....

5.) Get plenty of rest. When in doubt, sleep it off. Your body will thank you in the morning. After you have rehydrated your body with water and had a small snack, crawl into bed and let your body rest and detoxify itself. It is much more difficult to enter REM sleep after consuming alcohol, so even after what's normally considered a good night's sleep of 8-9 hours, you might not feel well rested. Allow your body to sleep as long as it needs in order to feel better.