HANGOVERS
Hangover
is an American term. It’s
said that it was first used in the late 1800’s and then
later added to dictionaries in 1904. Since alcohol has been around
since pre-historic times, it’s safe to assume that hangovers
have been around just as long and have had many names throughout
time.
| Symptoms
include; headaches, nausea,
extreme thirst, and tiredness. Alcohol dehydrates the body.
It also begins stripping vitamins from the body with B and
C being at the top of the list. You must always remember that
alcohol is poisonous and if you put too much of it in your
body then you can die. And a hangover makes you feel like
you want to. |
 |
Veisalgia (vye-SAL-juh) is
the medical term for hangover. When you drink alcohol your body
begins to break it down into acetaldehyde (ass-eh-tall-deh-HYDE)
first before it breaks it down further into less harmful substances.
As it breaks down, it also begins to deplete essential vitamins
and minerals.
Congener (CON-gen-er) is a poison found
naturally in all fermented drinks and contributes to a hangover
as well. They say that dark drinks like red wine, whiskey, scotch,
and brandy have more congeners than light drinks like white wine,
vodka, gin, and rum. They also say to keep in mind that the quality
of the alcohol you choose to drink can supercede the dark/light
issue by choosing a high quality over a low quality alcohol.
After drinking, the most common prevention you always hear about
is to take aspirin and drink a big glass of water before retiring.
What you want to take is Ibuprofen and water. Tylenol (actominophen)
causes extreme liver damage when combined with alcohol. It’s
like mixing bleach and ammonia together. Ibuprofen is also metabolized
in the liver like aspirin and Tylenol, but doesn’t damage
at high dangerous levels.
The Top Five Hangover Preventions
1. Drink water
while drinking alcohol
2. Snack while drinking
3. Drink high quality alcohol
4. Take B-Complex and Vitamin C
5. Take Ibuprofen
There
has never been one cure-all for a hangover the day after. The
chemical reality is that our bodies are the same in a lot of ways,
but different in other ways due to our age, weight, sex, and genetics.
As you can imagine, there are thousands upon thousands of common
folk hangover cures that have been passed down from generation
to generation. There are also modern day powders and potions that
claim to be the cure-all. You’ll just have to determine
what is best for you.
The Top 5 Hangover Cures
Hair of the Dog
The Hair of
the Dog refers to drinking a bit more alcohol to cure you. Supposedly
the term has been around since the 1500’s and refers to
placing a few dog hairs over a dog’s bite wound to cure
the wound. Somehow it evolved into a drinking metaphor.
Bloody Mary
Drinking a Bloody Mary is considered a classic
hangover cure especially when you add hot sauce, an egg, lemon
juice and other ingredients to the mix.
Sports Drink
They say that drinking PowerAde or Gatorade will
rehydrate the body with essential nutrients.
Raw Eggs
Egg yolks are high in cysteine (sis-TEEN). There
is also an over the counter supplement called N-aceltycysteine
(NAC).
Hot Bath or Shower
A hot bath or shower is supposed to help you sweat
out the toxins from the alcohol faster. However, if you are feeling
very uneasy, you should always have someone near by to help you
back in bed.Other Hangover Cures include; orange juice, pickle
juice, cabbage juice, Coca Cola, ginseng, ginger, bananas, chocolate
milk, herring, soup, fresh juices, Dramamine, Alka Selzter, and
Berocca.
Global Hangover Cures
America circa
1800’s; soak feet in mustard and eat eggs benedict.
Ancient Egypt; boiled cabbage.
Ancient Libyans; a mixture of seawater and wine.
Ancient Romans; fried canary.
Australia; T-bone steak, chocolate milkshake.
England; clam chowder.
France; hot onion soup.
Germany; pickled herring with a beer chaser.
Haiti; Stick 13 black-headed pins in the cork of the bottle you
drank from.
Hungaria; sparrow droppings in brandy.
Holland; herring and onions.
Ireland; Ulster Fry (potato bread, fried egg, bacon, sausage,
tomato, mushrooms and soda bread).
Japan; wear a sake soaked surgical mask.
Norway; heavy cream.
Mongolia; pickled sheep's eye in a glass of tomato juice.
Puerto Rico; rub a lemon under your drinking arm.
Romania; cabbage soup, tripe soup (made with the lining of a cows
stomach).
Russia; salted cucumber juice, black bread soaked in water.
Switzerland; brandy with a dash of peppermint (Stinger?).
Wild Wild West; jackrabbit dropping tea.
Global Hangover Expressions
America; hair of the dog.
Australia; hair of the dog and cat shat in my mouth.
DENMARK; timber men in my head, carpenters .in my head, carpenters
hammering in my head.
Old England; hair of the dog.
France; relight the boiler, wooden mouth, ill in the hair.
Germany; the wailing of cats.
Holland; wailing of cats.
PORTUGAL; undertow, roughness of the sea, that choppy feeling
after a night of Port.
Spain; a nail in the head.
Sweden; pain in the root of my hairs.
ITALY; no direct translation for the word hangover.
SLOVAKIA; to have a monkey.
Other Hangover Expressions
Spaceballs; Mel brooks says, My brain is melting into my feet.
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