Time is the best healer, TBH. Especially if your head is pounding, your tongue feels like sandpaper and even the slightest movement makes you want to throw up. The best thing to do is just lie there curled up in a dark, quiet room for eight hours and ride out your misery. But that's easier said than done. Most sufferers want remedies that may not lessen their misery but at least makes them feel like they've done something to undo the damage of quaffing too many tumblers of bhang laced thandai.
Popping Pills To No Avail
Taking a painkiller for your throbbing head is not a good idea. Paracetamol is metabolized in the liver, your detox center, which is already working overtime to get rid of all that alcohol. Instead, take an antacid to calm your tummy, eat a dry piece of toast and drink lots of water to hydrate your dry insides.
Remedies Galore
Of course, everyone has a timeworn remedy that they swear by - from popping a multivitamin, and drinking green tea to eating eggs for breakfast and bacon or (shudder) having another drink. However, there are some proven pick-me-ups that can at least help you feel slightly more human. Read on to find out more.
- Get Active: Even if it's the last thing you want to do. Getting endorphins or feel-good hormones pumping can actually lessen pain and make you feel better overall.
- Drink Up: Provided the beverage is non-alcoholic and decaffeinated. In fact the best way to ward off a hangover is drinking a glass of water for every glass of alcohol you have. Vegetable juice, coconut water, diluted fruit juice, chaas and herbal teas are all great options. Coconut water is especially good because it's replete with electrolytes and potassium that gets depleted during a hangover.
- Eat If You Can: A banana or pear is choc-a-bloc with potassium that helps tune down hangover headaches. Bananas are particularly helpful because they also contain magnesium which eases muscle pains and helps reduce nausea. If you can stomach it, a bowl of lentil soup, a cube of cheese and crackers or a handful of almonds can also do wonders because they are rich in B vitamins that halt hangovers in their tracks.
- Ginger Tea: One of the oldest and best known cures for a hangover that settles the stomach and calms nausea. Crawl out of bed to sip a cup and then go back to bed and lie still till the world seems tolerable again.
- Hangover Pills: Oh yes, add these pills to your list of magical solutions for hangovers. The anti-hangover remedies are great for your liver in the long run, especially if you like downing drinks every now and then :P. These remedies act as shields to protect your liver against inflammation against inflammation and ailments like cirrhosis and fatty liver.
Nykaa Recommends: Organic India Tulsi Green Tea Classic, Dr. Vaidyas LIVitup! Party Pack - Hangover Shield & Liver Protector, Pure Cure + Co. Sleep Calm + Restful Nights 40 Tablets and Organic India Original Tulsi
