How to Cure a Hangover

By Lara Medić

In English/Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian

After a long night of drinking and partying, you have probably woken-up with an intolerable headache; this is a sign that you are suffering from a hangover and have been drinking too much the night before. Although it may give you some discomfort, hangover is not a serious condition and disappears on its own within couple of hours.

The severity of the hangover often depends on the type of alcohol you were consuming the night before. Symptoms mostly include headache, nausea, and dizziness.

How to Cure a Hangover:

• First, be sure to drink a large glass of water in order to combat dehydration. 
• In order to make up for the lost nutrients like magnesium and calcium, whip-up a delicious smoothie (we recommend banana-honey smoothie with half of glass of regular or almond/coconut milk, one banana, and two teaspoons of honey).
• Be sure to stay away from coffee; it will not help your symptoms and can only make you feel event more irritated.
• The old myth of "drinking a glass of alcohol in the morning to combat hangover" does NOT hold true; if you are likely to be suffering from a hangover often, be sure to seek medical help.  

How to Prevent a Hangover: 

• The best solution for hangover is prevention of hangover! However, there are couple of strategies which you can use to successfully avoid the hangover: 
• Be sure to eat something before or while you drink so that you may slow down the absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream.
• Do not consume different types of alcohol at the same time and avoid those drinks that may have a bad effect on you; for example, some individuals are more likely to react poorly to cheap red wine (they contain large amount of additives) or strong wine (due to strong natural flavors and colors).
• Be sure to reduce the amount of alcohol you consume by drinking slowly and switching between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
• Avoid dehydration by drinking a lot of water before and after consuming alcohol.

Natural Remedies:

• Cabbage: raw cabbage has been used traditionally as a cure for a hangover due to its immense beneficial effect on liver. It is also known for its ability to cleanse the digestive system and neutralize the toxins from alcohol on stomach and intestinal tracts 
• Rosemary tea: helps reduce headaches and helps aid the breakdown of alcohol in liver 
• Dandelion or milk thistle tea: aids detoxification of blood and liver. 
• Tea from the Willow Tree Peel: contains natural remedies similar to that of an aspirin 
• Chamomile Tea: reduces inflammation of liver and the intestinal tract. 

Limitations of Alcohol: 

For women, it is not recommended to consume more than three servings of alcohol (or "standard drinks") per day. For men, the recommended daily intake should not exceed three to four servings (or "standard drinks"). Also, it is highly recommended to abstain from drinking at least TWO days a week. Taking into consideration your weight, height, metabolism and health, your "standard unit" of alcohol might be lower than the those typically recommended. The standard unit of alcohol is 0.25 l, or one medium size beer, one shot of liquor or small (125ml) glass of wine with 8-9% alcohol. 

P.S. Alcohol affects women differently than men; a woman with the same weight is likely to have a higher concentration of alcohol in her blood when compared to a man. The reason for this is that women tend to produce less of an enzyme that helps break down alcohol.

A party gone wild...

In Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: 

Mamurnost

Sigurno ste se jednom probudili s pulsirajućom glavoboljom koja je obično znak mamurnosti. Mamurnost je znak da ste previše popili. Ona nije ozbiljno stanje i uglavnom nestane nakon nekoliko sati. 

Jačina mamurnosti se mijenja prema količini i vrsti alkohola koju ste popili. Simptomi najčešće uključuju glavobolju, mučninu i vrtoglavicu.

Liječenje

• Najprije popijte veliku čašu vode kako biste nadoknadili svu tu izgubljenu tekućinu. 
• Nadomjestite izgubljene hranjive tvari kao što su magnezij i kalij ( frape od banane: pola čaše mlijeka, jadna banana i dvije žlice meda). 
• Ne pijte kavu ! Neće vam nimalo pomoći, a može vas učiniti živčanim. 
• Nemojte „izbijati klin klinom“ tj. opet uzeti alkohol. -Ako ste redovito mamurni potražite liječničku pomoć.

Prevencija

Najbolja je prevencija ne popiti previše. No osim nje, imamo još nekoliko strategija koje mogu spriječiti mamurnost.

• Uvijek nešto pojedite prije ili dok pijete kako biste usporili apsorpciju alkohola. 
• Ne miješajte razne vrste alkoholnih pića i izbjegavajte ona na koja loše reagirate. Neki kažu da će prije dobiti mamurnost od jeftinog crnog vina (zbog visokog sadržaja aditiva) ili pojačanog vina kao što je višnjevac (zbog visokog postotka prirodnih okusa i boja). 
• Smanjite količinu konzumiranog alkohola tako što ćete ga polako piti pa će vam dulje potrajati, i izmjenjivanjem alkoholnih i nealkoholnih napitaka. 
• Izbjegavajte dehidraciju tako što ćete piti mnogo vode prije i poslije uzimanja alkohola..

Biljni lijekovi

• Kupus ( sirov kupus je tradicionalni lijek za mamurnost, rabi se već stoljećima jer se vjeruje da detoksificira jetru, štiti stjenke probavnog sustava pa neutralizira negativno djelovanje alkohola na crijeva i želudac).
• Čaj od ružmarina (ublažava glavobolju i pomaže jetri da razgradi alkohol). 
• Čaj od maslačka ili sikavice ( pridonosi detoksifikaciji jetre i krvi). 
• Čaj od kore vrbe ( sadrži prirodne tvari slične aspirinu). 
• Kamiličin čaj ( ublažava nadraženost želuca i crijeva).

Ograničenje alkohola:

Preporučuje se da ne uzimate više od dvije ili tri jedinice alkohola na dan za žene, a tri- četiri za muškarce. Također se preporučuje najmanje dva dana bez alkohola u tjednu. Uzmite u obzir i svoju težinu, visinu, metabolizam i zdravlje. Vaša idealna jedinica može biti niža od službenih smjernica, Jedinica alkohola je jednaka 0,25 l piva srednje jačine, jednoj dozi žestokog pića ili maloj (125ml) čaši vina s 8-9% alkohol

P.S. Žene koje su iste težine i koje su popile jednaku količinu alkohola kao muškarac, obično imaju višu koncentraciju alkohola u krvi. Razlog tome je što žene proizvode manje od jednog enzima koji razgrađuju alkohol. 

Author: Lara Medić, 

e-mail: lara.medic@hotmail.com

Twitter & Instagram: @lara_medic