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23rd February 2018
12:04pm GMT
A night out on the 23rd of December is basically tradition, but the last thing we want is to be hungover on Christmas Eve.
Luckily there are some simple preventative measures that you can take that will leave you feeling fresh, full of life and not crippled by the booze and hiding under the covers in bed.
Most people worry about what they eat the day after a heavy night out (greasy food for most people) but it is actually what you eat before that makes all the difference. A big hearty meal before you head out means the alcohol will take longer to reach your blood stream.
You probably wake up craving a coke or some sort of sugary drink after a night out. There is actually science to this because your glucose levels drop after drinking and need replacing. Go with the old classic Lucozade for the best possible results.
It is probably the very last thing on your mind as you kick off the shoes and fall into bed but booze makes you seriously dehydrated which is what will cause the huge headache in the morning. Force as much as you can into you before sleeping and you'll give your body a head start for the morning.
Rather than mixing a load of sugary mixers into your tipple of choice or having drinks that are pure alcohol, ask the bar person for drink on the rocks and sip it. You'll need to learn to drink slowly but the good news is you'll be getting half a glass of water in each drink as the ice melts out.
Researchers at the University of Manchester have found that carbonated mixers increase the rate at which alcohol gets into the blood stream and gets you more drunk. The same can be said for drinking champagne instead of wine as you will have probably have noticed. It might get you drunk quicker but the hangover will also be more severe. Use juice or water as a mixer instead of fizzy drinks.
Drinking will decrease the amount of nutrients in the body so pop a multivitamin just before you head out to help keep the body topped up with B12 and folate and all the stuff that is going to come under pressure when alcohol starts washing into the blood stream.
Darker drinks like red wine or rum contain congeners (substances produced during fermentation), which may contribute to causing hangovers. Skip the whiskey in favour of vodka or a glass of white wine!
When you drink you don't just lose water in the body but also but electrolytes, too. Get them back by eating foods that are high in Potassium and the best two that you can get easily are spinach and bananas. Eat them before going drinking and also in the morning even though they probably won’t be what you are craving as soon as you wake up!
Ginger has a load of benefits when it comes to healing the body and especially to settling the stomach. Drink this as soon as you rise in the morning and you will find all the funny noises the stomach is making can be quickly settled down.
Have a spoon of olive oil. This may sound a little gross, but many Mediterranean cultures swear by this hangover prevention technique. Basically, it's the same principle as eating fatty food before drinking - the fat in the olive oil will limit your body's absorption of alcohol. So if you can stomach it, swallow a tablespoon of olive oil before you head out for the night.
Just as well cold-pressed juices are all the rage at the moment, it means you won’t be too far from a juice bar selling a big bottle of tasty beetroot juice! Keep a bottle in the fridge for the morning when you wake, beetroot is known to be detoxing to the liver so you can sip your hangover away and flood your body with nutrients.
According to new research in a study asparagus aids the body in accelerating the metabolism of alcohol. The quickest way to cook them up is a soup where you blitz the shit out of them of you could try our sexy asparagus eggs.
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