7 Strategies For Avoiding That New Year's Day Hangover
This year felt like one long hangover, so let's do our best to start 2017 bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. These seven tips and tricks will help you wake up refreshed, vibrant, and ready to take on the new year.
Order That Burger and Fries
New Year's resolutions start after Dec. 31, right? Eating a rich, calorie-dense hamburger and some starchy French fries will actually help to avoid a hangover because it slows down the rate at which the body processes alcohol. A person drinking on an empty stomach will reach peak blood alcohol content much faster than someone who just had a big meal.
Click here to see the 101 best burgers in America.
Avoid the Sparkling Wine
Sparkling wine is especially bad for hangovers because the bubbles increase the body's absorption of alcohol, meaning you'll get drunk faster. To prevent a hangover, go with one type of liquor or beer and stick with it the entire night.
Click here to see a ranking of the world's 50 best beers.
Buy Top-Shelf Liquor
It goes against our natural instinct to pay double for top-shelf liquor, but on marathon nights such as New Year's Eve, this splurge may save you from a hangover. The reason: Expensive alcohols are more thoroughly filtered, resulting in fewer toxins and impurities.
Click here for 10 alcohol facts that just aren't true.
Alternate Between Alcohol and Gatorade or Coconut Water
If the numerous bathroom breaks aren't evidence enough, you lose a lot of water during/after a night of drinking. But it's not just water that's flowing out of your body — you're also losing important nutrients and electrolytes. Try drinking a bottle of coconut water or Gatorade to bring some balance back to your body.
Click here to learn more about how coconut water can help you before and after a night of drinking.
Stick With Seltzer and Soda Water for Mixers
Cocktails and other mixed drinks are a fun (and palatable) ways to get your buzz, but some are more likely to cause a hangover the next morning. A study of 57 different alcohol mixers found that lightly carbonated seltzer water was one of the most effective in accelerating the body's metabolism of alcohol, which decreases the time that alcohol is in your blood stream.
Finish the Night With Ibuprofen
Once the drinking has concluded, do your best to remember to pop an ibuprofen before bed time. (Maybe even put it on your bedside table with a bottle of water before you go out.) Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory that can help you recover from the internal inflammation that comes with excessive drinking.
Click here for nine delicious, anti-inflammatory foods.
Eat Eggs for Breakfast
Besides being especially palatable for a queasy stomach, eggs contain cysteine, an amino acid that helps break down headache-causing toxins, which are a byproduct of alcohol digestion. A couple of hard-boiled eggs or an omelette might just transition you into 2017 hangover-free.