We’ve all had that next day hangover and we all know how much it sucks. There are three very common hangover “cures” that don’t actually cure anything and can actually make you feel worse. Read them below.
Tylenol
Be careful of what pain medication you take for that jackhammer in your head, says Robert Swift, M.D., a professor at Brown University’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.Acetaminophen—the active ingredient in Tylenol—needs to be metabolized by the liver just like alcohol. A night of drinking disrupts your liver from fully breaking down the toxins in acetaminophen, risking liver damage even at lower doses. Stick with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen. (Avoid aspirin, too, since it could upset your stomach).Hangover Pills
This is more to protect your wallet. But most of the stuff marketed as hangover remedies contains natural vitamins and ingredients in your foods or medicine cabinet already.“Taking these special hangover pills is not essential because you don’t lose that many vitamins on a single hangover,†says Samir Zakhari, Ph.D., director of the Division of Metabolism and Health Effects at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
If you already take a multivitamin, go ahead and pop one in the morning, says Zakhari,. Drinking coffee will make you feel just as alert. Most over-the-counter hangover remedies already have caffeine in them, and at least coffee also hydrates you. (An athlete with a hangover, or any injury, must be ready to recover. Find ways to get moving in The Athlete’s Book of Home Remedies.)
Hair of the Dog
You’re just delaying the inevitable. Drinking again never lets the body recover, and your brain cells stay dehydrated and your blood vessels remain dilated—making that headache return again later, says Swift .Giving some alcohol back terminates the mini-withdrawal briefly. “Eventually you’ll just have the same symptoms like headache and nausea,†he says.Instead, replace those lost fluids (think about how much you pee) by downing 8 ounces of water every hour you’re awake after drinking. If you drink too much water too quickly, you fill up and stretch an already irritated stomach, and that can produce nausea and even more vomiting, says Swift. A bottle of sports drink will also help replace lost electrolytes.
