Hangover – what helps against nausea & Co.?

Holidays such as Christmas or New Year’s, but also weddings, birthdays and many other occasions invite you to drink a glass of alcohol. However, it is often not just one glass and the next morning you wake up with a bad hangover: your head is pounding, your stomach is rumbling, your body is longing for water and it is not uncommon for  nausea  and vomiting to be the result of too much alcohol. We’ll give you tips on how to avoid a hangover and what to do if you’ve had a drink.

Fight hangovers: what to do after too much alcohol?

No matter what you do – there is no other hangover remedy in the world that will sober you up faster. With a few tips, however, you can at least combat unpleasant hangover symptoms such as headaches, nausea or dizziness:

1. Drinking plenty of water the next morning helps   relieve the symptoms. In particular, the strong thirst that plagues people with a hangover is alleviated by the water. Still water is best, as carbonated water irritates the stomach. Fruit spritzers are also well suited to replenishing the mineral balance.
2. A  hearty hangover breakfast  can also help to get rid of the hangover symptoms. It is better to eat several small meals throughout the day. However, anyone who suffers from nausea and vomiting should initially refrain from eating and only drink easily digestible drinks such as  herbal tea  .
3.  Fresh air  can also help fight a hangover. A walk is therefore preferable to a day on the sofa. The movement pumps more blood through the body, the circulation is activated and regeneration processes can run better. It is advisable to take sunglasses with you when the sun is shining, as bright light can make headaches worse.
4. If you can, try to  sleep.  Sleep relieves the symptoms and helps to get through the hangover day better.

Hangover breakfast: what to eat when you have a hangover?

A hangover breakfast the next morning can help fight the hangover. If you feel reasonably fit, you can also have breakfast in a convivial atmosphere with a few friends.

Typical for a hangover breakfast are a high fluid intake and a  diet that is particularly high in fat and protein.  In order to get the electrolyte balance back in order, it is also recommended to eat particularly nutritious foods. However, depending on how you feel, you should decide for yourself what and how much you eat.

Rollmops may not be to everyone’s taste and is not easy to digest, but is often recommended as an effective hangover breakfast  .  Because it contains many  minerals  and thus brings the mineral balance back into balance. In addition to Rollmops, foods such as pickles (sour  pickles ) or stews with vegetables are also suitable for chasing away the hangover.

While sweets are generally not recommended for a hangover,  fructose  is a helpful exception:  honey  and fruits with  vitamin C  can help break down the alcohol and thus alleviate the hangover a little.

Salty and hearty as a cure for hangovers

Salty dishes  such as pretzels or pretzel sticks are also recommended . The mineral balance can also be replenished with various drinks. A hot soup or a glass of tomato juice with  salt is said to be particularly effective  . Chicken or vegetable broth are also popular anti-hangover remedies.

Drinking alcohol can also lead to a slight hypoglycaemia in the body – the next morning this is mainly noticeable through an increased appetite for  hearty, spicy foods  . Then the hangover breakfast can be supplemented with sandwiches. Wholemeal bread  and  cheese  are usually well tolerated and help you get back on your feet quickly.

Better to do without counter beer

On the other hand, you should keep your hands off the so-called contra beer: If you fight a hangover with alcohol, you can alleviate your symptoms in the short term, but the alcohol puts further strain on the liver and the hangover problem is only postponed, not solved.

What helps against nausea after too much alcohol?

A hangover is often accompanied by nausea or even vomiting. A hearty hangover breakfast is often not the right thing to do because the thought of eating makes you nauseous.

Still, try to drink a lot. Suitable drinks for nausea are:

• silent Waters
• Tea  (e.g. herbal tea, fennel tea, chamomile tea,  ginger tea  or lemon balm tea)
• mild, not too acidic juice spritzers (non-carbonated)
• broth

Drink in small sips, the tea should not be too hot. Ginger is not only a popular home remedy for nausea in the form of a tea: If you want, you can chew a piece of ginger or put a slice of ginger in your tea.

Nuts , pretzel sticks or pretzels are usually well tolerated, even in the case of nausea after drinking too much alcohol. Rusks  or fruit (  e.g. bananas ) are also easily digestible.

In addition, you should get a good rest and try to get a lot of sleep until the alcohol is eliminated from the body and you feel better.

Hangover: This helps against headaches

In the morning after drinking too much alcohol, a  painkiller  can be used for severe headaches . In most cases, painkillers with the active ingredient  ibuprofen  are well suited because, unlike other painkillers such as  paracetamol , they  are not broken down by the liver. Tablets with the active ingredient  acetylsalicylic acid  (e.g. in Aspirin®) could damage the stomach, which is why experts sometimes advise against taking them after drinking alcohol. If you suffer from nausea, it is better not to take painkillers despite a hangover.

Peppermint oil  is a good alternative for fighting a hangover headache without any painkillers  . The smell of the oil relaxes the muscles and improves blood circulation in the  scalp  – without putting a strain on the stomach or liver. Simply put a few drops of peppermint oil on your forehead and temples and massage in gently. The oil takes effect about 15 minutes after application.

Espresso with  lemon is also   considered an effective remedy for headaches. The combination of the two foods reduces the sensation of pain and can thus help to soothe the headache as an alternative to painkillers. However, this home remedy is not suitable for an irritated stomach.

 Cooling the head, for  example with a cold pack or a cold washcloth, is often perceived as pleasant.

Prevention: The 6 best tips against a hangover

Of course, the easiest — and healthiest — tip to avoiding a hangover is to avoid  drinking alcohol at all, or at least very little  . But if it does get wet and happy, you can use the following tips to avoid a hangover or at least alleviate the symptoms.

By the way: The saying “Beer on wine, let that be. Wine on beer, I advise you” is wrong! The order of the drinks doesn’t matter in the development of a hangover. Rather, it is about the amount of alcohol, individual tolerance and other accompanying circumstances.

1) Do not drink on an empty stomach

Establish a solid foundation before drinking. It is best to eat a  high-fat diet  – the fat absorbs the alcohol more slowly into the blood and the alcohol level does not rise as quickly.

Typical party snacks such as nuts, salty biscuits or cheese also make it more difficult for alcohol to be absorbed into the blood and can thus prevent a hangover.

2) Drink a glass of water in between

Drinking a glass of water in between ensures that the body is not dehydrated too much. The blood remains thin and the risk of waking up hungover with a headache the next morning is reduced.

Alternatively, a fruit spritzer can be drunk instead of water.

3) Avoid accompanying alcohols (fusel alcohols)

If you consume alcoholic beverages in large quantities, you should make sure that they only contain ethanol and not other alcohols. Accompanying alcohols such as methanol or isobutanol are contained, for example, in whiskey, dark rum or cognac as well as in red wine.

Although there is no scientific evidence, it is generally accepted that accompanying alcohol is partly responsible for the hangover the next morning. By the way, vodka is relatively free of accompanying alcohols.

4) Give up smoking

Don’t smoke if you drink alcohol – this tends to make your headache worse the next morning. Because nicotine lowers the alcohol level in the blood and thus gives the feeling of being able to drink even more.

5) Avoid alcoholic beverages with sugar

Some alcoholic beverages, such as punch or  mulled wine , contain a mixture of alcohol and sugar. However, the breakdown of acetaldehyde in the body is inhibited by the sugar. This breakdown product of alcohol is partly responsible for the hangover the next morning. This is why the hangover is often particularly bad after drinking punch, cola mixed drinks or mulled wine.

Incidentally, carbonic acid  also  accelerates the absorption of alcohol into the blood.

6) Drink slowly

The quicker you drink alcohol, the more powerful it becomes. So drink slowly – this usually has the advantage that you drink less overall throughout the evening. Under no circumstances should you drink alcohol as a thirst quencher, this will only make you drink faster and your body will also  become dehydrated .

Painkiller before bed?

A painkiller before bed to prevent a hangover? This is generally  not recommended due to possible interactions. For example, acetylsalicylic acid, which is popular in such cases, attacks the stomach mucosa, which is already irritated by the alcohol.

Anyone who fears waking up hungover the next morning should drink a large glass of water before going to bed.

Symptoms and development of a hangover

After a night of drinking, hangover  symptoms  such as:

• headache
• tiredness and exhaustion
• nausea and vomiting
• racing heart
• dizziness and  circulatory problems
• Durst (Dehydration)
• concentration problems
• restlessness
• increased  sweating
• stomach pain  or  heartburn
• loss of appetite
• slight tremor
• depressive  moods or anxiety
• temporary gaps in memory (“film tear”)

When we drink alcohol, it enters the blood via the digestive tract and is then distributed throughout the body. In this way, the alcohol is also transported to the brain, where it influences the transmission of information between the nerve cells. Among other things, this leads to impaired perception and concentration as well as a reduced ability to react.

Alcohol also inhibits the hormone vasopressin in the body. This hormone is responsible for recovering water from primary urine. The  inhibition of vasopressin  leads to dehydration of the body – this means that the body excretes more water. In short, alcohol removes water from the body. The loss of water causes the blood to become thicker, which can lead to irritation of the meninges and a headache the next morning.

Along with the water, more minerals are also excreted, so excessive consumption of alcohol can also lead to  disturbances in the mineral  balance. In addition to the high water loss, the hangover symptoms are also caused by the toxic breakdown products of alcohol – especially acetaldehyde.

Because alcohol makes you tired, but significantly affects the  quality of sleep  , tiredness and exhaustion are usually among the symptoms of a hangover.

How Long Does a Hangover Last After Drinking Too Much?

A hangover usually begins six to eight hours after drinking the alcohol. Such a hangover can last up to 24 hours, although some people continue to feel ill for several days after excessive alcohol consumption.

As a rule, it does not take that long to break down the residual alcohol, so that driving a car would usually be permitted again before that in view of the blood alcohol level in the blood. However, you should only drive when you feel fit and focused enough, i.e. only when the hangover has completely overcome.