The biggest night of the year is here. You’ve got your outfit, the venue and who you’re going to see the new year in with, but have you thought about how you’re going to stop yourself from waking up on the 1st of January feeling like death?
Thought not. So, we’ve come up with some great tips to help you wake up spritely on the first day of the new year. You can’t cure a hangover but you can definitely take steps to prevent it.
The best way to reduce your chances of a hangover is simply to limit the amount of alcohol you drink. It sounds boring but it is the best way. If you don’t drink much anyway, overindulging at new year can leave you more susceptible to being ill than others. That’s because your tolerance to alcohol will be lower and so drinking too much can make you really ill.
So, what can you do?
Switch cocktails for mocktails
Mocktails are a great alternative to alcohol-filled cocktails and you can’t tell the difference by looking at them either. So, if at the stroke of midnight, you don’t want to be seen without a drink in hand, grab one of these. They look amazing, taste great and you won’t regret it in the morning.
Water, water and more water
If avoiding drinking alcohol at new year sounds wrong to you, then drinking water is essential. New Year’s Eve is a long night and if you want to make it to the end, you’ll need water to help you through.
Drinking a glass between alcoholic drinks will help to slow down your alcohol consumption and dilute the alcohol passing through your system, reducing its effects. You can even mix your drinks with water. For example, some bartenders recommend adding water to a glass of white wine. Many think it enhances the flavour as well as reducing the alcohol content.
Avoid caffeine
Caffeine and alcohol are not a good mix. Caffeine can make you need to pass water more often and can increase the dehydrating effects of alcohol. Caffeine also lures you into a false sense of security because it makes you think you can drink more than you can really tolerate.
Choose the right snacks
At any party, there’s always plenty of snacks on offer but choosing the right ones can help you to prevent a hangover. Try to avoid the heavy pastry-based canapes, cakes and sweets and choose ones with fruit and veg like tomatoes, cucumbers and melon. These are packed with water and can help to keep you hydrated through the night.
What to do if you do get a hangover?
If you didn’t quite take our advice and do wake up with a sore head and turning stomach there are a few things to make your recovery more bearable.
- Avoid that ‘hair of the dog’. The benefits of doing so may only be temporary and the only way to truly get rid of the hangover is to let your liver process the toxins in your body.
- Get some rest. Not getting enough sleep can make it worse and sleep can help your body to recover.
- Stay hydrated. It’s important to take on water to keep yourself hydrated and to replace fluids lost in vomit or diarrhoea because that can make you feel worse.
