Holiday Parties, Hangovers, HELP!

​Tips for beating the holiday hangover.

​As a functional medicine Dietitian I am not encouraging copious amounts of alcohol intake. Alcohol is a neurotoxin and for many individuals it drives hormonal imbalances, liver damage and unnecessary weight gain. The tips in this blog are find for the occasional night out and are meant to help you get back on track again, okay? Agree? Good. Let’s get started.
 
EAT WELL. Don’t skip dinner (or lunch and snacks for that matter). Alcohol is absorbed more quickly when poured into an empty stomach. Make sure you have a good, well-balanced meal when you are drinking.
 
SAY NO TO CAFFEINATED COCKTAILS. Walk away from the Red Bull and Vodka. Alcohol is a punch to the liver, don’t mix it with another: caffeine. Allowing your body to detox one major chemical at a time is better than mixing it with caffeine and whatever other crazy chemicals are found in Red Bull.
 
TAKE YOUR MULTIVITAMIN. Having adequate B vitamins will help your body detox alcohol and can assist in a shortened hangover the next day. Most multi vitamins have adequate amounts of the B vitamins. Take you multi the day you plan to drink and the day after to support your bodies detoxification pathways.
 
EAT AN ORANGE. You body will also need electrolytes and vitamin C. If you don’t like oranges consider a bell pepper. Or drinking an EmergenC is a good alternative.
 
DRINK UP THE H20. For every one alcoholic beverage, drink 1 large glass of water or coconut water. Stay away from sugary beverages on a night you drink. These make hangovers so bad.
 
WAKE UP AND DO WHAT? Exercise, drink some caffeine, try another coconut water and if it’s really bad, pop a few advils.
 
Alcohol has more calories per gram than protein and carbohydrate. It is also metabolized in a different way than other foods. Because it is a toxin in the body, your body will always preferentially metabolize alcohol, meaning other foods have to wait. Your body will send signals to store other food as fat while it is metabolizing alcohol. It can affect your metabolism for hours even after the alcohol consumption stops. So do yourself a favor and limit the amount of evenings you choose to partake in alcohol. This is for your overall health, but also for you weight loss efforts.