St. Patrick’s Day, the morning after: How to cure that nasty hangover

First rule: don’t try to remember how much green beer you drank last night. Retelling it would be like reliving it.

Hangovers occur when your liver is overburdened in an effort to clear out the excessive amounts of toxins and chemicals ingested from, well, too much alcohol. We feel sick to our stomachs and we have headaches as our blood sugar dips and our bodies are dehydrated.

READ MORE: How to prevent or cure a nasty New Year’s hangover

Global News lists popular cures to nurse that hangover.

Stay hydrated

Drink water, and copious amounts of it. Alcohol is a diuretic, so it’ll leave you pretty dehydrated by the end of the night. Help the detoxification process along by drinking two to four glasses of H2O before passing out — it’ll make a world of difference in the morning. And a general rule of thumb — every pint of green beer you down should be accompanied with a tall glass of water. Your liver will thank you.

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Try not to mix drinks either.

Restock your potassium and electrolytes

“Water can certainly help the next day because it can rehydrate you, but you’re going to get the most benefit from something with a little bit of electrolytes,” according to Julia Zumpano, a Cleveland Clinic registered dietitian.

When you’re dealing with a hangover, your body is dehydrated and in need of electrolytes, potassium and sodium, she said.

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You won’t be up for running a marathon, but a sports drink will be your friend the day after. You’ll need to replace all the electrolytes you lost on those trips to the washroom last night.

Fitness gurus also swear by coconut water as a source to replenish electrolytes, the salts and minerals that keep your body functioning.

You can also reach for a banana.

Drink Sprite

In 2013, scientists stacked 57 drinks — from herbal teas to sugary sodas — next to each other to see which ranked best for curing a hangover. Turns out, Sprite helped with processing booze, relieving those awful symptoms of nausea and uneasiness.

The Chinese researchers, out of Sun Tay-Sen University, said it’s all about how our body breaks down alcohol that causes a hangover, not the alcohol itself. Sprite was the winner when it came to speeding up the process.

Good food, and we don’t mean poutine

Some people swear by greasy foods by way of street meat, bacon and pizza. But for those who are sensitive to smells, lights and movement, the strong scent alone could make you nauseous. Stick to the tried and true — toast and saltine crackers, according to this study. They’ll soak up the booze and won’t unsettle your stomach.

READ MORE: 6 misconceptions about nutrition and healthy eating

You should also stock up on foods that are rich in B6 — salmon, turkey, chicken and pistachio nuts, for example. Eggs contain a component called cysteine that might help with processing alcohol, too. In any case, experts suggest that you eat before drinking to slow down alcohol absorption. But try to avoid the salty snacks — they’ll only contribute to dehydration.

If you have a queasy stomach, ginger could decrease nausea, Zumpano suggests.

Wallow in self pity

Look at you, hugging the toilet bowl, lying in the fetal position in bed, and waking up to a pounding headache. You’re in pain. You’re broke from spending all that money on booze. You need to apologize to everyone you drunk texted in the early hours of the morning. Stay under the covers. Sleep it off. The rest of the world can wait until you recover.

carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
Follow @Carmen_Chai