You wake up after a long night of festivities, only to feel the crushing pounding in your head and the churning of your stomach reminding you that you over did it last night. For as long as we´ve had alcoholic beverages, finding a hangover cure has been a constant pursuit for partygoers. While finding an emergency hangover cure is easier said than done, there are a few tried and tested ways to cure a hangover fast. Let´s explore the ten best hangover cure solutions!
Symptoms of a hangover
There are many ways excessive drinking affects you. Common symptoms of a killer hangover are:
- Nausea
- Headaches
- Lethargy
- Difficulty concentrating
- Loss of appetite
To know how best to deal with it, we need to understand the why. A hangover is the result of several factors. For example, when we party and get distracted by intoxication, we tend to forget about drinking water. At the same time, alcohol is also dehydrating. While intoxicated, we produce way more urine, letting all that precious H20 escape, making for a very dry double whammy. It’s a big reason why we feel so beaten down after a boozy night. Water is critical for the body. A dehydrated system suffers greatly.
The infamous morning after headache
Possibly the worst part of being hungover is the pounding headache. We know the feeling all too well. You are unable to get out of bed while it feels like Mike Tyson is hammering your head. Different factors cause this phenomenon. First dehydration strains the brain. Secondly, alcohol causes your blood vessels to expand. This directly leads to the characteristic pounding headache.
But a severe headache is only the beginning. The headaches are usually coupled with another sinister symptom.
A stomach in turmoil: Hangover nausea
If you thought it was just a headache, you´re in for a rude awakening. Many experience nausea with their hangover. This symptom makes you a regular visitor to the bathroom. Bouts of vomiting are not uncommon.
The culprit lies in the stomach lining. Ethanol is not naturally occurring in our bodies. And our digestion has a hard time dealing with it. Your stomach lining takes the brunt of the hit, becoming very irritated. This leads to the trademark nausea that keeps your head down in the toilet bowl. Hangover nausea cures have been around for years, and nausea is one of the most common reasons people avoid drinking altogether. Even so, how to cure hangover nausea is still widely debated. To cure hangovers fast, solving the nausea problem is critical.
Loss of appetite
One of the most critical things to do when hungover is to ensure you get proper nutrition. More urination leads to dehydration, while nausea will likely make you regurgitate your essential nutrients. These two combine into a cocktail of severe depletion. It’s necessary to eat and hydrate, but alcohol also causes an inflammatory response in the immune system, causing a loss of appetite.
Combining loss of appetite with nausea is a breeding ground for deficiencies in several critical nutrients. Among the best hangover cures is to eat well, but inflammation makes this quite the challenge.
How to cure a hangover fast: Ten ways
With all this in mind, there are a few ways we can combat these symptoms.
1. Understand the healing effects of water
As alcohol dehydrates the body, one of the best hangover cures is simple H20. Water will solve the issue of dehydration.
2. Drink more liquids with salt
Drinking more water is all good and well, but as we know, it tends to come out as we are nauseous. A good emergency hangover cure is salt solutions. Salt helps your body keep more of the water you drink. Salt hangover cure solutions are available at most pharmacies.
3. Eat more salty food
The key to this is to stay hydrated. Apart from salt solutions from the pharmacy, salty foods also work great. French fries, pizza, or salted crackers are all great ways to retain moisture while also giving you some precious nutrients.
4. Eat lots of fruits with vitamins
Fruits are a top hangover headache cure. Not only do they contain lots of water, but they´re also loaded with vitamins. How to cure a hangover fast comes down to incorporating these healthy alternatives into your diet.
5. Understand that food is still a great hangover cure solution
It might be hard to keep solids down when you’re nauseous but you must try. Focus on eating small bites throughout the day and keep a serving of saltine crackers by your bed.
6. Take aspirin or an anti-hangover supplement
Now this one is a classic for a reason. One of the best way to cure a hangover headache is simply by using aspirin. The pill alleviates the symptoms and can allow you to function much better. Aspirin may even help you get some food down! There are also a variety of anti-hangover supplements on the market that contain vitamins, nutrients and whole food extracts designed to help you recover faster.
7. Replace lost fluids
Another great way to cure a hangover headache is fluid replacement. People who want to know how to cure a hangover fast will eventually arrive at this solution. It gives you the nutrients you need and can even help with nausea.
8. Try to get active and move
To defeat the lethargy of a hangover, you need to move. Try to get outside for some air. You´ll find that you become a lot less tired, and the fresh air helps as a hangover nausea cure.
9. Get some well-needed rest
Being hungover is almost like being ill. For example, one way to cure sickness is with rest. Take a few naps throughout the day to help recover your strength. Some moments of sleep are one of the best emergency hangover cures.
10. Avoid any more alcohol intake
It goes without saying. Don´t do more of the things that put you in this situation in the first place. To cure a hangover fast, stay away from alcohol altogether.
Ease up on the drinking next time
We all react differently to alcohol. You might not be as seasoned as some of your friends. Rather than trying to keep up, know your limits. Stay with what works for you, and the next hangover will be more manageable. The important thing is how to cure hangover nausea is to replenish with nutrients and water.
