Hangover Myths
A hangover is the effect of drinking too much alcoholic beverages. It is accompanied by undesirable physical effects like throbbing headache, stomach disorder, nausea, vomiting, disruption of sleep, fatigue, dizziness, thirst and sensitivity to sound and light. The more liquor you had the stronger the hangover that you will be suffering.
Hangover symptoms may be caused by different factors. The headaches are caused by the expanding blood vessels located in your head. That is why you feel throbbing pain in your head. Take note that alcohol is a diuretic that is why drinkers urinate frequently when drinking. The more urine you expel the greater chance you will be dehydrated. Dehydration is responsible for feeling thirsty, lightheaded and dizzy the next day. Alcohol also makes your blood sugar level to drop that is why you feel shaky, weak and fatigue. Another effect of alcohol to the body is that it stimulates the acid in the stomach. Nausea and vomiting happens because the linings in the stomach are irritated and there is a delay in the emptying of the stomach. Hangover can last to 8 hours or even the whole day and night.
So it is important to limit your drinking for you not to experience hangovers.
Below are some of the common remedies that you hear from other people that are really not effective. They are mostly belief and myths you hear form other people. Drinking coffee, taking a shower, drinking ibuprofen, aspirin or acetaminophen, “hair of the dog,” and exercise are few of the popular beliefs.
They say that drinking coffee can cure hangover but it does not. It will only keep you awake but it will not relieve you from hangover. You may feel tired and jittery which is a very undesirable combination. Yes, taking a shower will make you feel clean and a little fresh but you will still feel bad and awful because the alcohol’s effect is still working inside your body. Drugs like ibuprofen, aspirin or acetaminophen relieve the pain caused by headache but it will not free you from hangover. It can even give a worse effect to your hangover. Aspirin and ibuprofen will just irritate your stomach and the combination of acetaminophen with alcohol will damage your liver. The “hair of the dog” belief or drinking more alcohol is popular to some but this really won’t work. It will just offer a temporary relief but will just give the same effect of hangover later on. Exercising and engaging into physical activity won’t also get rid of the alcohol’s effect into the body.
The best way to relieve hangover is not to drink at all or drink moderately. Know your limits and know how to control yourself from drinking too much. Drink in a slow pace, dilute your liquor, drink water while drinking alcohol to avoid dehydration, have something in your stomach before drinking liquor. It is better to choose drinks with lower congener concentration (white/clear alcohol). these are tips that are true and not just myths.