The Hangover: How to prevent one.

No matter what kind of alcohol you prefer, I think we can all agree that the worst part of alcohol abuse enjoyment is the hangover. Thus, this blog entry is not exclusive to the world of beer and could have been written about any type of alcohol.

I hate hangovers and I’m sure you do too. I’m also certain that, like me, one of these painful hung-over mornings probably caused you to regret the events of the previous night. You also probably tried to get rid of your hangover or even vowed to never drink again (usually for reasons more than just physical and nausea caused by your alcohol consumption). So in this BrewBlog entry I will talk less about beer and more about how to relieve the pain caused by having too much beer (or anything else you were drinking).
First of all, what is a hangover? A hangover is an automatic physical reaction towards excessive consumption of alcohol. This may result in a crescendo of side effects such as reduced blood sugar levels, increased blood pressure, liver strain, nausea and some other unpleasant effects. The severity of the hangover depends on the amount of alcohol consumed, your body’s ability to cope and your age.
Before alcohol consumption results in a hangover, there are actually a couple of hangover-prevention methods that you may arm yourself with in an attempt to prevent a morning of misery. Some of the common ways to prevent a hangover are:
• Don’t drink on an empty stomach…duhh.
• If possible, don’t downshift alcohol volume. In other words, if you were drinking beer and then decided to have a scotch on the rocks, don’t go back to beer or anything that has a lower alcohol content than scotch.
• It’s a good idea not to mix alcohol types. So don’t mix grain alcohol (vodka, sake, whiskey) with grape alcohol (champagne, wine, brandy) or and agave alcohol (tequila).
• Have a glass of water in between drinks.
• Avoid chasing shots with carbonated soft drinks. That might actually make you barf before you even get to the hangover phase.

Following these simple rules will reduce your chances of a hangover. Check back soon for part two of my hangover post, where I will write about common hangover cures.