In search of the elusive hangover cure

“One should always be drunk. That’s all that matters… But with what?
With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you chose. But get drunk.”

― Charles Baudelaire, circa 1850s

 

It’s an unfortunate truth that, even with wine, one can have too much of a good thing. I’m not a binge drinker and prefer to enjoy my wine at a steady pace, but there are inevitably times when wine goes straight to my head and I find myself debating the meaning of the Sopranos’ final episode at 3 in the morning.

Most wine lovers know the dreaded sensation of babalaas: a mouth that sticks together like double sided tape and a headache that feels like a caveman bashing your skull in with a rock. In particularly bad cases, the lurching surges of nausea, giddiness and regret do little to help the situation.

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With this in mind, I thought it would be interesting to find out what friends and family do when a hangover strikes. The first person I chatted to is a friend who is a medical doctor with years of ER experience. Interestingly, medical research suggests that there is no panacea for hangovers –  yikes! A study from the BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) involved eight randomised controlled trials assessing eight different medical interventions for preventing or treating hangovers. The conclusion? “No compelling evidence exists to suggest that any conventional or complementary intervention is effective for preventing or treating alcohol hangover”. Another article in the journal Alcohol Health and Research World confirms this hypothesis. Noooooooo!

In spite of what the research suggests, most of us live in hope and have a few tricks to combat the dire effects.

The Wine Hoover hangover strategy

To avoid feeling like complete rubbish takes pre-emptive planning. Before I head to bed after a big night, I’ll bomb a headache tablet, a Valoid and drink a large glass of something sugary (Oros is my personal favourite).

The next day I’ll have a shower, drink liters of orange juice and eat either a toasted cheese sandwich or a pizza. After a nap or two, I’ll be relatively ready to cope with reality.

My father’s trick: A boost of caffeine

In his youth, my dad swore by Guronsan C. These effervescent tablets hail from Japan but can be bought at Clicks. Each one contains 50mg caffeine, which is sure to provide a marvellous boost to anyone feeling a bit washed out.

My husband’s creme soda tactic

My husband will drink copious amounts of luminous creme soda after a big night out, usually accompanied by a bag of chips, a Myprodol and samoosas.

If possible, he’ll also go for a swim or a surf to clear his head (the icy waters of the Atlantic work wonders).

Other remedies

Two of my friends swear by apple juice, while another keeps a few packets of Rehidrat in her handbag. The restorative powers of Steers should also not be discounted.

For more potential cures (heck, anything is worth a bash), check out these articles by The Guardian and Real Simple.

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