How Many Times Have You Said “Never Again”?

Waking upon Wednesday morning this week with the hangover from hell made me realize that we are all susceptible to having a bad morning at the expense of over-indulgence of alcohol. I am sure that the three bottles of whisky, two bottles of wine, one bottle of champagne and a good couple of cases of Asahi between six of us did not help much but it was an impromptu session that was never intended to be one of those nights that you regret in the morning.

Hangovers apparently are only felt by 70 to 75 per cent of drinkers meaning there is a lucky 25 to 30 per cent that do not suffer the affliction – sadly, I am not one of those lucky few!

When suffering from a hangover, those affected suffer from (sometimes) severe headaches, nausea, the shakes, sensitivity to light and loud noise plus dehydration. In essence, nothing that really makes you want to get out of bed in the morning and you certainly do not want those curtains opened!

In my experience most people do not just get hangovers because they have been drinking the night before, a lot depends on what they were drinking, how much you were drinking, whether you were mixing your drinks and the quality of the drinks you were consuming.

The quality of the product, for me, is the most important factor to consider when contemplating whether or not you will wake up feeling terrible. Cheap vodka, made badly, will still contain traces of methanol which will lead to swelling of the brain and induce hangover symptoms in the morning, primarily headaches. The same can be said for bad wine and cheap beer – although they are more likely to be caused from formaldehyde additives in the drink.

It has also been proven that darker spirits such as rum, bourbon and whisky create worse hangovers than clear spirits such as vodka – but again, quality is still an important factor.

So, what can we do t ensure that we suffer less from hangovers and, when you do get them, how can we manage them so that the symptoms go away quicker allowing normal life to resume?

In order to prevent a hangover the cure is pretty simple. Don’t drink too much, drink decent brand named products that you know, don’t mix your drinks and, obviously, do not have those rounds of shooters at the end of the night. Drinking any number of good bottles of wine will generally leave you feeling unaffected in the morning, but those rounds of absinthe, tequila and B52’s (Baileys is a killer for hangovers) will be your downfall.

Drinking a pint of water before you go to bed is supposed to help the hangover as it rehydrates you and reduces the potential of brain swelling thus reducing the headache potential. Obviously, one will need to remember to drink this pint before you go to bed and your ability to do so depends on the level of inebriation.

Waking up and feeling rough is never good and there are two certainty’s that ensure you will start to feel better again. Firstly, and most obviously, you could just start drinking again. There’s a good reason why the Bloody Mary is such a good hangover cure; it’s basically an alcoholic liquid breakfast in a glass and is a sure way of reducing the effects of the hangover. This morning alcoholic beverage is known as “hair of the dog”, an expression found in almost every European language. When I searched the meaning on line it was very hard to see where the original meaning became relevant to drinking in the morning however, I figure that as it’s a reference to a cure for a bite from a rabid dog, the feelings suffered when hungover are akin to the feelings suffered by those bitten by rabid dogs.

The second suggestion is to eat something. In my experience, a great hangover cure and one that has served me well is a McDonald’s Big Mac meal followed by an innumerate number of cigarettes. Whether or not it’s the sugar in the coke or the salt in the food, who knows, but it works for me and many others too. In Hungary for example, to cure hangovers they spread lard on to a big piece of bread and sprinkle with red onion and paprika, and then eat – it’s called zsiros deszka and is pictured above.

I have also heard from a good friend that having a full English fry-up before going to bed is also a sure way of not waking up with a hangover. “The Flying Pan”, Hong Kong’s 24 hour breakfast restaurant is a great place to get a 4am fry-up and I’m told it has something to do with the fatty bacon and frying oil that sorts you out!

Effectively, don’t really worry too much about getting a hangover as there are remedies and ways of ensuring that the hangover does not come or that you feel less of its effects. And don’t let the fear of morning suffering inhibit your enjoyment at night as it’s a small price to pay for having a great night out. One of my favourite quotations about drinking comes from the movie “The Hangover” when Stu says to Phil; “Why don’t we remember a god damn thing from last night?” to which Phil replies. “Obviously because we had a great f***ing time”!

Have a good weekend and drink up folks!