Hangover Preventatives for Before, During, and After Drinking

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

If you want to totally prevent a hangover then don’t drink. However, if alcohol is going to be part of your good time, there are some scientifically proven methods that you can use before, during, and after drinking to help prevent the morning after misery.

Planning your night out before you start drinking can help you feel better the next day. Start by eating a good meal. Focus on eating foods that are high in fat and carbohydrates. A full stomach does not absorb alcohol as easily as an empty one, allowing your body to process the alcohol more easily. Fatty foods and high carbohydrate foods take
longer to digest, so the effect lasts longer. By eating first, you can also decrease stomach irritation.

It is important to stay hydrated so drink water before consuming alcohol. Taking a multivitamin can also help combat the vitamin and mineral loss that the diuretic affects of alcohol can cause.

When drinking, there are some things that you can do to help prevent alcohol absorption. You should drink slowly, preferably no more than one drink an hour. This gives your body enough time to process the alcohol. Having a drink of water or a sports drink with your drink will help to keep you hydrated and allow your body more time to process the toxins.

Another thing to do is to watch what you are drinking. Mixing drinks will often cause you to feel worse the next day. Beer has the lowest amount of alcohol, but carbonation allows it to be absorbed faster. Wine is higher in alcohol, but is not carbonated, and white wine has fewer congeners than red. Cheap wines also tend to be higher in congeners than the more expensive types. Liquor has the highest amount of alcohol, and clear liquors have fewer congeners than dark ones, and again, the cheaper the liquor, the more likelihood of a hangover.

When you get home from your night out, there are some things that you can do before going bed. Take two aspirins with a full glass of water to help hydrate you and decrease hangover severity in the morning. Make sure that to take actual aspirin, not acetaminophen, which can cause more problems for your liver.

When you wake up in the morning, you should take two more aspirins with another glass of water to help stave off a headache caused by inflammation. Taking another vitamin can help you replenish the vitamins and minerals that you loss the night before and set you on the road to recovery.

A healthy breakfast can also help. Eggs have cysteine that can break down toxins; bananas include potassium crucial to hydration, and fruit juices or sports drinks can help by replenishing sugar, salt, and electrolytes that you may have lost. Start out slowly, to avoid nausea, and avoid caffeinated beverages that will prolong your misery.

The best thing to do to prevent a hangover is not to drink at all, but if you are going to anyway then the above steps should help lessen the painful affects.


Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Hangover Cures.

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Is All Magnesium Created Equal?

Friday, December 14th, 2007

When it comes to magnesium, how much you use is not as important as what kind of magnesium you use. Everyone is familiar with milk of magnesia; unfortunately, magnesium is harsh and not as safe as many would think. At the same time, when you take a good look at your multivitamin, you will find that magnesium features prominently on the list of minerals contained therein and it is considered vital to the proper functioning of your body. This begs the question: is all magnesium created equal?

In the world of magnesium there are the good, the bad, and the ugly:

The good form of magnesium - the kind that you won’t mind taking as part of your colon cleanse regimen - is magnesium oxide. This form of magnesium will enable you to cleanse your colon yet it relies on oxygenation to do so, which will make the process of the colon cleanse longer, but at the same time more natural and thus gentler on your body as a whole.

The bad kind of magnesium is magnesium sulfate. It will not kill you, and you might actually know it as Epsom salt. Once in a while it is used as a laxative mixed at home in a pinch, but for the purpose of a colon cleanse, it will not provide the decimation of the compacted fecal matter that has built up in your colon. Instead, it will simply flush out whatever fecal matter would have evacuated during your next bowel movement anyways - thus simply rushing things along a bit.

The ugly kind of magnesium is the one that is most popular: magnesium hydroxide. Do not be fooled into thinking that magnesium oxide and magnesium hydroxide are the same substance or even share similar qualities! You most likely know this product as milk of magnesia and it is indeed a powerful laxative but at the same time it depletes your intestines of vital salt, thus interfering with the electrolyte balance in your body. If you have ever noticed a friend or loved one undergoing a colon cleanse and instead of looking refreshed and vitalized they are tired, moody, and seem to run out of energy quickly, you must know that you are probably looking at someone who uses a colon cleanser that relies on magnesium hydroxide to get things moving along.

It is important to make sure you are educated on the ingredients used in the colon cleaner. It is also important to understand how the ingredients work together to achieve the colon cleansing effect. Just because one cleanser contains 10 ingredients while another only contains three, does not mean that either one is better or worse. It is the harmony between the ingredients, and the forms they take that decide the quality of the substance.


Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more informaton on Colon Cleansing.


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