New Year’s Eve is often a time when even the healthiest of us throw caution to the wind and break out the champagne. The best advice is, of course, to avoid a hangover in the first place. And how? Simply by limiting your alcohol, drinking plenty of water, and making sure you eat enough, you can stave off spending New Year’s Day recovering from the last night of the year. But if you’ve overindulged and you are paying the price, here are our top five Yinova tips for beating a holiday hangover in a natural way.
1. Curing Pills (sometimes known as Culing Pills)
This is a well known Chinese patent remedy specifically prescribed to settle an upset stomach. I always have some on hand and find that it works miraculously quickly if, I’m ever feeling queasy for any reason, not just due to a hangover. The pills contain aromatic herbs that penetrate damp and grease, so it’s particularly good if you wake up with a greasy tongue coat and nasty taste in your mouth.
2. Ginger
Ginger is both a food and medicine in China and a cup of ginger tea with plenty of honey will steady your stomach the morning after a heavy night. Cut 10 slices of fresh ginger and put them in a pan with 4 cups of water. Boil this mixture for 10 minutes to make tea. Strain the tea and add the juice of 1 orange, the juice 1/2 a lemon, and 1/2 cup honey. Sip on this to ease nausea and balance blood sugar. The honey is an important addition and works better than sugar. Honey contains fructose, which slows the metabolism of alcohol. Plain sugar, however, contains sucrose, which isn’t absorbed as quickly and so doesn’t work as well.3.
3. Water
Most of the symptoms of a hangover are caused by alcohol’s dehydrating effects. So replacing fluids will make you feel a lot better. Water is best used preventatively so, if you can remember, down a large glass or two of water before falling asleep and you’ll wake up feeling at least a bit better.
4. Vitamins
Personally, I swear by Vitamin B complex for a hangover, including B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), folic acid, B6, and B12. Vitamin B12, in particular, supports the brain and nervous system function and helps a foggy head after a night of over-indulgence. I also like to take a fizzy vitamin C supplement, such as Emergen-C.
5. Bananas
Dehydration affects your electrolyte balance, so eating a potassium-rich food such as a banana will restore some balance and help you feel better. Other potassium-rich foods such as kiwi fruit.
