Maybe your thought is to pig out on greasy bar food while you drink. Maybe you have the latest and greatest over the counter miracle cure pill to try. Or maybe you have a cooler made up with some “hair of the dog” chilling in the back of your fridge for the morning after. However, if you are looking for a healthy alternative to your traditional hangover cures, you might take a look at what your local Chinese herbalist has to offer.

If you are familiar with traditional Chinese foods, you may have noticed that many of the recipes include ginger and garlic, which are known for their medicinal affects on a variety of discomforts. This is because many of the recipes evolved as part of traditional Chinese medicine, which traditionally uses these and other herbs and foods to help keep the body in top shape.

So, while you are out shopping for beer, wine coolers, and tequila, you might consider a stop into your local Chinese herbalist. Here are a couple of recipes that might perk you up after your night of overindulgence.

For hangovers, you can consider some herbal tea. You will need 20 grams of Hovenia dulcis, known as zhi ju, 10 grams of Pueraria/kudzu root, known as ge gen, and 10 grams of Peuraria flowers, known as ge hua as well as four cups of spring water. Take a glass or ceramic pot, and bring the herbs to a boil in the water. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer until you only have two cups of liquid. Strain the mixture, discarding the herbs, and divide into two cups. Drink one cup on an empty stomach immediately, and then drink the second cup about two hours later.

If you want to detoxify your liver, you can try a Lotus Root Cooler. You will need a large fresh lotus root, raw sugar or barley malt, and four cups of spring water. Cut the root into one inch pieces, and add the pieces and the sweetener to a saucepan. Cover with boiling water. Put a lid on the pot and allow the mixture to steep for a few minutes. You can then strain it and drink throughout the day.

If you want to detoxify your whole system, you should try some Ginseng Licorice Tea. You will need a handful of the small rootlets of white ginseng roots, known as ren shen. You will also need 10 long, thin slices of licorice root, known as gan cao, and eight cups of boiling water. Add licorice and ginseng together with four cups of boiling water in a teapot or thermos, allow to steep for 20 minutes, and then pour off the liquid into another container. Repeat with another four cups of water (can be repeated up to five times) and drink throughout the day.

Hopefully hangovers are not a part of your regular routine but should you find yourself suffering from one there are plenty of Chinese herbal remedies to try.

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There are several things that have been shown to help ease the pain of a hangover. Some are more effective than others, of course. Here is a look at some of the things that have proven most successful.

You can actually start by popping some pills. Taking a dose of aspirin is the most effective cure for any pains that you are feeling; provided that your stomach is not in too bad of shape (aspirin can irritate sensitive stomachs). Also take 200 mg of cysteine, which you can get at specialty food stores and supplement stores. Cysteine has been shown to counteract the effects of acetaldehyde on the body. 600 mg of Vitamin C and a Vitamin B-complex supplement can help to replenish the nutrients that were flushed out of your body with the frequent visits to the bathroom. If you do not have these as separate pills, try taking a multivitamin.

Next, a smoothie can help hydrate you and get vitamins and minerals back into your system while still being pretty easy on your queasy stomach. Blend together a banana, a can of V-8 juice, six strawberries, a couple tablespoons of honey, 1-2 cups of milk, a pinch of salt and a dash of nutmeg until it reaches your desired consistency. This will help coat your stomach and get some nutrition in you. If you know that operating a blender will be beyond your capabilities with a hangover, prepare the night before so that it is ready in the morning.

If you are still feeling bad later on in the day, then you can round it out with some Maalox, Gatorade, and bouillon soup. These should all sit easily on your stomach, help hydrate you, and replenish the vitamins and minerals that you lost. If you are still nauseous, add food back slowly into your diet so that you do not end up throwing everything back up.

If your head is still pounding after the aspirin, take an icepack, wrap it in a towel, and put it on your head. Alternate twenty minutes on with ten minutes off until the pain subsides.

Of course, your friends and family will have their own remedies for the morning after pain. You are welcome to try these as well if you think you can tolerate them. However, avoid any “remedies” that involve drinking more alcohol, vast quantities of caffeine, or taking painkillers like acetaminophen. In the long run, these will actually end up harming your body more and causing you to feel worse once their effects have worn off.

All in all, the best cure for a hangover is time – your body needs time to process the alcohol and the toxins so that you can start to feel better, and there is no real way to speed that up.

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Since are generally not the same age, height and weight, alcohol affects them differently and what one person should not do in order to avoid hangovers, another person might be able to do and be fine. Knowing the “what not to do’s” then becomes a personal list. One person’s list of what not to do in order to avoid hangovers will be different than another person’s list.

A hangover is really a lesson in physiology. You have to understand the physics of what makes up the essence of a “hangover” and then apply that to each individual to discover what each individual “not to do list to avoid hangover” will look like.

The physiology of alcohol looks something like this:

Dehydration – alcohol evaporates a certain portion of the water contained in your body.

Nervous shock – Alcohol is a depressant drug, and because it is, it has an affect on your nerves; basically sending them into a state of relative hypersensitivity.

Malnutrition – All that alcohol and other liquid (cola, juice, water etc.) that you consumed has effectively flushed your system of any stored vitamins and nutrients that would have been your body’s natural defense system; a defense system that is in the dangerously low range right now.

The “what not to do” list are the things that put your body into that dangerously low range.

What not to do should include:

Not eating fatty or greasy food

Not eating dairy products

An obvious one – don’t continue drinking

Do not have sex, especially if you are so drunk you have no idea who you are having sex with

Do not mix your types of alcoholic drinks (liquor, wine, beer). Do not do the: drinks before dinner…. wine with dinner…. after-dinner drinks.

Do not drink dark colored alcoholic beverages; they are notorious for giving you the wicked hangovers

Do not overdo it with the sweet blended type of alcoholic beverages. Sugar and alcohol is a very bad mixture. Sugary, trendy drinks that are floating colored blends of syrups and liquors all have the same result when you have too many of them…they end up going back up the way they came down…. yuck!

Since we are all different out lists will not be exactly the same. To avoid a hangover, know what is on your “what not to do list” that will help you to have fun if you choose to drink without regretting all that fun the next morning.

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Of course, you should not drink to excess in the first place but if you do, here are some proven methods that will work to cure your hangover fast.

Had too many drinks? Mixed them, soft (wine) and hard (whisky) at the same meal. Your head is splitting; you have nausea, a dry mouth, are dizzy, and can’t get out of bed?

That’€™s a division 1 hangover. How do you cure it? Read on.

What is a hangover?

The hangover above is caused by the combination toxic by-products after the metabolism of alcohol (in this case, the toxin is acetaldehyde) and it’s not a pleasant feeling!

Added to this are dehydration, and depletion of Vitamins A, B (particularly B6) and C brought about by the chemical action of alcohol in your body.

You are now suffering the effects of a mild overdose of a depressant drug, and your nerves in a hangover state are only reacting to it.

So in addition to all the above, you are also depressed and feeling low!

Some Preventive Measures (Prevention is also the cure)

Firstly, don’€™t drink on an empty stomach, ever. Always eat as you drink, and always something oily, including oil or butter by themselves.

This is an old trick from girls who don’t wish to get drunk at parties. 5 teaspoons of olive oil before drinking!

If you are still conscious as you are about to sleep, have a large glass of water or two.

These glasses of water can solve the dehydration problems caused by the drinking.

Also be sure and take painkillers with Ibuprofen being the one to go for not, aspirin! Aspirin will nothing for you or your hangover.

Waking up is really difficult, and you need something to help.

You won’€™t feel like eating or drinking anything, but if you are really up to it, try.

The Red Eye.

It’s not the most pleasant taste, but is known to really help and cure hangovers fast.

To make the Red Eye mix in a blender some whiskey, fresh coffee, some Tabasco sauce, a raw egg, pepper and orange juice.

It’s really an acquired taste to put it mildly!

If you can drink it and keep it down, you will feel normal in about 15 minutes.

If you are really brave, and really sick, try the Black Mary.

Here you mix coffee, tonic water, honey and orange juice.

This is equally an unpleasant taste just like the Red Eye but most people agree it works faster.

And agreeing that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, then follow the following guidelines.

1. No mixed drinks.

If you drink hard liquor, drink it straight or with ice. No soft drinks or juices with it. These mixers will serve to get you drunk more quickly, and add a great deal more of toxic material for your body to rid itself of the next morning.

2. Drinking means no dairy products at the same time. No milk, cheese, ice-cream and cream sauces.

These are the vomit agents! Stay away from them.

3. Remember only time (and metabolism) sobers you. Coffee, fresh air, walking, and so on, does nothing at all to rid you of the toxic materials that cause a hangover.

4. Do not mix low alcoholic drinks (wine for example) with high alcoholic ones. Mixing these will get you drunk very quickly and sicker the next day. Stick to low or high, but do not mix. Remember this rule.

We all know we shouldn’t drink to much but if you want to prevent a hangover or cure one quickly, the above will work and work fast.

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Drink only in moderation. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommends that women have no more than 1 drink per day and men no more than 2 drinks per day. One drink is defined as a 12-ounce bottle of beer, a 4-ounce glass of wine, or a 1 1/2-ounce shot of liquor.

Fill your water bottle. Sip water or fruit juice to prevent dehydration. Resist any temptation to treat your hangover with more alcohol. It’ll only make you feel worse. Be careful with caffeinated beverages, too. Caffeine acts as a diuretic, which may increase dehydration. Additionally, caffeinated beverages may make you think you’re alert when you’re really not.

Do not have an alcoholic drink in the morning as a cure for a hangover. Another drink does not help and may only make the hangover worse.

Most hangovers are gone within 24 hours. Rest is recommended. Remember, even if you feel good the morning after heavy drinking, your ability to perform at your best will be diminished due to the residual effects of alcohol.

There is evidence to suggest that fructose, a natural sugar found in fruit juice and honey, helps the body to process alcohol faster.  Bouillon soup, a thin vegetable-based broth, is also a good source of vitamins and minerals (including salt and potassium), to top up the body’s depleted resources.

A cure for a hangover containing the active ingredient ephedrine in powdered form enclosed in a capsule. In a second embodiment this cure contains ephedrine and charcoal, while in a third embodiment; this cure contains Ephedra, charcoal and Vitamin B6. The use of any one of the three embodiments reduces the symptoms associated with alcohol intoxication and hangovers thereby speeding up recovery. The Ephedra, Vitamin B-6 and charcoal may be combined on a wt % ratio of 1:2.5:10. The Ephedra may come in the form of Ma Huang having 6% wt % Ephedra. One type of dosage is in the form of individual capsules having 10 Mg of Ephedra, 25 Mg of Vitamin B-6 and 100 Mg of activated charcoal.

Some doctors recommend that those who are susceptible to hangovers drink a large glass of milk before going out drinking. The milk is rumored to line one’s digestive bits and pieces. The more modern thinking is that milk really does little to help and that only a large dose of grease laden starch is going to be an effective remedy. Hence the popularity of the ever welcome kebab on the way home from the pub.

Ginger has long been used to treat nausea and seasickness. And, since having a hangover is much like being seasick, this easy to use remedy works wonders. If you’re really green, the best bet is to drink ginger ale (no preparation required). If you can remain vertical for ten minutes, brew some ginger tea. Cut 10 to 12 slices of fresh ginger root and combine with 4 cups water. Boil for ten minutes. Strain and add the juice of 1 orange, the juice of 1/2 lemon, and 1/2 cup honey.

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Even though we all know that alcohol can lead to hangovers, the cause of a hangover is something we don’t know.  Alcohol does have some positive effects on the body, although it can also lead to negative effects such as hangovers.  Some doctors will actually recommend it, while others will tell you never to drink it.  Even though drinking is good, moderation is the key.  The easiest way to avoid hangovers is to drink in moderation – and never get drunk.

As many of us already know, whisky, bourbon, and wine can result in a much harder hangover than vodka or beer.  For many people, chemicals in wines or yeast found in unfiltered beers can result in headaches.  Beer, wine, and liquor can be fun and relaxing to drink, although if you aren’t careful you can easily get a headache or a hangover.

Even though the cause for hangovers is unknown, it has been proven that the headaches associated with hangovers stem from dehydration.  With alcohol being a diuretic, it will make you urinate quite often.  Therefore, if you drink alcohol or beer on a daily basis, your body will remain dehydrated.  When you wake up in the morning with a bad headache and turn to coffee, which is also a diuretic, the process of dehydration actually gets worse.

You’ll also need to do something with the alcohol that has been left in your body.  Even though a hangover can make you want to stay in bed, the secret to getting yourself back on track is movement.  To rid your body of the alcohol, you’ll need sweat.  Sweating gets the toxins out of your body, and helps you feel better.  You can exercise or have sex to get over a hangover, as the heat your body emits will be too much for alcohol toxins to handle.

Although a hangover can be a bit of a pain, it can be prevented.  The first rule of drinking any type of alcoholic beverage is to never drink on an empty stomach.  If you eat a good meal before you start drinking, you’ll find that the food can help you digest the alcohol much better.  When the alcohol starts to attack your stomach, you should consider eating foods that are high in fat, such as cheese.  You can also sip some olive oil or drink some water.  The secret to making sure that you don’t get a hangover when drinking is to drink in moderation and never let yourself get too drunk.

Beer is digested very fast by your body, which is why you should always drink beer first if you plan to mix drinks.  Beer is digested the fastest, and will also help your body to absorb any other drinks you have faster.  You should always keep in mind that when you drink alcohol, your body will get dehydrated.  Any type of alcohol that you consume is a diuretic, therefore you should always drink water with your alcohol.  Alcohol can dehydrate your body very fast – which is why you’ll need water to ensure that you stay hydrated.

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If you have a hangover now you probably care less about the cause or reason and more on a potential cure. Well we’ve toured the information available and come up with ten likely or even unlikely things you may want to try.

1. Cabbage … may not be as bad as it sounds. Reputedly the ancient Greeks thought it was a potent cure. Cabbage is thought to help the body clear out Congeners. Do What? Congeners are toxic byproducts of the fermentation and distillation processes. Chemical impurities responsible for giving each drink its individual taste, aroma and a colour (good). Big but .. Congeners do add to the strength of your hangover. (Bad) Some drinks manufacturers may well add artificial colourings and flavourings to enhance their brands. There is some speculative evidence to suggest these may increase the drinks toxicity … and help make a hangover even worse.

2. Water … A pint or two just before you go to sleep … you might wake up needing the loo in the night, but will probably avoid the dehydration hangover, probably the most common. A dry mouth in the morning is a big clue to dehydration!

3. Coffee … coffee in the morning or the proverbial strong black coffee … well tested but apparently scientifically bogus .. the caffeine may dim the ache but it’ll just dehydrate you more too. You’ll just be a wide-awake head holder. Water is infinitely a better, read healthier, option.

4. Voodoo … apparently the Haitian suggestion is to stick thirteen pins in the cork of the offending bottle. If you can focus long enough it might feel a little like revenge.

5. Herb lore … in the dark ages it was suggested to try drinking a concoction which was predominantly Soot. Probably going to empty your stomach fairly quickly. Charcoal is thought to help clear out the congeners from your system. So hands up the chimney or down to Boots for charcoal tablets … down to you.

6. Suffering … suffering with perpetual hangovers? Watch the vitamins, alcohol drains the system of a few things. Big among them vitamins A, B, B6 and C. Add also minerals like potassium, calcium, niacin, magnesium and .. and .. and .. Keep those multivitamins handy, pick one with minerals included. The DT’s are an infamous sign of vitamin deficiency.

7. Common … Get up, take a couple of paracetamol, a big glass of water and go back to bed for a couple of hours. This is probably the favorite, running close in notoriety with hair-of-the-dog. If you do, be wise several types of pain killers and alcohol really don’t mix. Any pain relief made from Tylenol is bad news for you and your liver. Combined with alcohol it can kill your liver in a very short space of time. Read the label.

8. The hair of the dog … Don’t gather the hairs from big dogs unknown to you, else it might be not ‘the hair of the dog that bit you’ but ‘the hair of bit dog .. bit .. big dog .. hair .. bite thing’ … thing. Seriously, alcohol to cure a hangover has both factual and fictional element. A little might help you feel better, as you will be suffering from a mild form of withdrawal and a drink may feed the need. But the drink won’t help the hangover, in reality you will just be extending the time it takes to get better.

9. Fruit Juice … Fresh juice would have a good measure of fructose, which is good for burning up alcohol still residing in your stomach. Good if you can drink it.

10. Be true to the one … Different drinks have different ingredients, congeners, additives. Would you drink a half pint of fresh orange, a pint of chocolate milk shake and then a can or two of lager all in a row? Assuming you did it for a bet would you expect to feel ill afterward? By drinking a variety of drinks you will greatly increase the variety of toxins and additives going into your system. As the toxicity levels rise your system goes into overload dealing with all what the body sees as poisons. Your liver works overtime trying to flush the system, you’ll need to pee more as this is done. If you’re not drinking the water the liver needs to do its job .. you’ll be dehydrating bringing on a much worse hangover.

11. What the heck, we’ll have eleven … The best advice to prevent a hangover is don’t drink alcoholic drinks! If your reading this it probably means this is one you’ll ignore. So try drinking in moderation. Failing that, drink light coloured drinks. It’s only a rule of thumb, but light coloured drinks are likely to contain fewer congeners, which affect the strength of your hangover.

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