January 1 is known for being New Year’s Day, but the day also holds another title, National Hangover Day.
The distinction should come as no surprise as New Year’s Eve is the biggest party day of the year, so throngs of adults who may have drank one too many are waking up today feeling like a bomb was dropped on them.
To celebrate the day, here are a few techniques on how to cure that hangover as quickly as humanly possible.
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
Alcohol acts as a diuretic when you ingest it, so the urge to urinate becomes more frequent when a person is knocking a few back, and that leads to dehydration.
One of the best things to do to tame that nasty hangover is drinking plenty of water when you are able to drag yourself out of bed the morning after an alcohol-infused night out.
Drinking water will aid you in rehydrating yourself and also dilute the impurities added to alcohol that lead to that stomachache that usually accompanies a hangover.
Carbon
One method you might not be aware of is using carbon as an agent to purify the stomach from the impurities added to it to remedy that sour stomach.
When a person suffers from alcohol poisoning they have carbon slurry pumped into their stomach for that very reason.
Obviously the average person doesn’t have carbon slurry on hand so the next best thing is to eat some burnt toast.
Yes, although it might not taste all that great, the charred areas of the toast contain a small amount of carbon and will combat the impurities in your stomach on a smaller scale than getting your stomach pumped at the hospital.
Posole
The popular Mexican soup Posole is said to work wonders on neutralizing those impurities alcohol leaves in your stomach after a night of drinking.
It is made up of hominy, with your choice of meat, seasoned and garnished with chile peppers (ancho chile peppers are a popular choice), cabbage, salsa and limes and/or lemons. To keep it vegetarian one can forego adding meat to the soup.
The chile peppers will heat things up in one’s body, making them sweat, which is also a way toxins exit the body. Make sure to drink plenty of water in addition, as sweating will also compound the dehydration brought on from being intoxicated.
Alka-Seltzer
The trusty remedy of anyone who’s nursed a hangover is the fizz-inducing medicine Alka-Seltzer. The ingredient sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, will give that upset stomach some relief, while the aspirin added will attack that headache that’s almost certainly looming over someone who went overboard on the champagne on New Year’s Eve.
Plop the two tablets in some water, wait for the fizzing action to take place, drink the liquid and hop back in bed if your schedule permits. If not and you have to brave the real world, good luck to you and hopefully the Alka-Seltzer kicks in as quickly as possible.
Contact reporter Mick Akers at makers@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @mickakers