One thing that seems to be nearly universal among people in there twenties is socializing over drinks. Good or bad, healthy or not, it's a fact of many social groups. Drinking can be a good deal of fun but if you're not careful could lead to a good deal of misery: the horrible hangover. The terrible pain that can make you vow to never drink again.
That vow, in my case, has always been broken. Rarely a week passes before a friend convinces you that one beer won't hurt. He was probably right, one drink wouldn't hurt, that just is never the case. Before you know it you're starting the whole cycle again, each time you somehow "forget" how bad the hangover is: I think in reality you've blocked out the pain. Defense mechanism. Although, I wonder if maybe the hangover has been bestowed upon us through evolution: the people who didn't get hangovers drank themselves to death before they could reproduce (likely they wanted to but the machinery refused)
Following are several tips that I've received or have discovered that I've found particularly helpful in bocking the hangover that may keep you from having a social life - and dying before 30.
- Stay reasonably healthy. Your body seems to allow for more toxins if you give it what it needs it seems to be more forgiving of your indiscretions. reasonably healthy involves staying active as well as eating nutritious foods.
- When you wake up (preferably after an unusual amount of sleep) go to a juice bar and take a shot or two of wheat grass. Most people hate the taste but you may (like me) come to love it, mostly because it means you'll be feeling better shortly. once you've had the shots grab a fresh juice. You may be thinking, "come on dude! I'm not made out of money, thats gonna add up!" Well, you're right, it's not cheap and your probably made of flesh and bone, but think how much you spent last night on buying this misery. Yea, it's making you feel sick isn't it. juice up and you'll be fine.
- Take an Aspirin and vitamin B supplement or Emercen-C packet before bed and wash it down with as much Gatorade as you can. Keep a bottle by the bed as well as a jug of water. You never want to wake up in the middle of the night with a saliva free mouth, no water, and no energy to get up and get some.
- Have a big broad breakfast, omelettes with vegetables, granola with milk, a bloody marry and coffee. Basically, get as much food in you as you possibly can. This may seem to contradict the first tip of staying reasonably healthy but thats only because it does, and it shouldn't be done all the time.
- Have a snack before bed of toast with butter and honey. It's delicious as well as helpful, you'll probably be reminded how much you love toast and will start toasting everything.
So there you have a few ideas on how how to avoid the pain and still have the pleasure of drinking.
One final tip to help with the morning pain: you probably didn't embarrass yourself as much as you think; your friends were likely just as messed up and don't really remember so don't worry about it too much.
