Life
'Hair of the dog' or herbal: Handling the hangover
By Grace Su (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-12 10:38
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So you made your resolution for New Year's to never drink again. But you were invited to yet another awesome party where you couldn't seem to resist when someone opened a bottle of champagne, especially a nice one.
There are plenty of things people do to limit a hangover, such as eating well before drinking, pacing themselves, drinking water in between alcoholic drinks and drinking water before going to sleep.
But what if you forgot, ended up drinking one more drink than you should have and just feel terrible the next day?
Every veteran has their own favorite regimen for recovery. Some opt for healthy choices such as drinking ionized water and taking vitamins, while others swear by notions such as the so-called "hair of the dog" - simply drinking alcohol again the next day.
China Daily asked some of Beijing's seasoned partiers for their go-to solutions. Maybe one of them will help after your next foray in festivities:.
Katie Tian, organizer of the infamous tequila parties at Vics, says that her cure for a hangover is to drink plenty of water.
The trick is to "sip, not gulp", Tian says. This is to prevent the body from feeling nauseous and wanting to regurgitate even the water.
Tian adds that it's essential to get at least eight hours of sleep the next day and stock up on multivitamins.
Speaking of vitamins, Chozie Ma of Bang Producers, an entertainment events company, swears by vodka with Vitamin water, a branded beverage drink in China.
"You can pick your own flavor depending on how you feel." The beverage has variations like Focus, Energy and Revive.
Ma also recommends cutting up and eating some fresh cold fruit, or better yet, frozen watermelon. But if all else fails, "go to the old faithful Bloody Mary", she said.
Of course, not everybody can bring themselves to drink more alcohol the next day. Luckily, there are more healthy ways to mitigate a hangover.
According to Steve Warn, marketing manager at the World Health Store and a professional strength and conditioning trainer, hydration with ionized water helps the body get rid of toxins faster than plain water. "The smaller water molecules get rid of free radicals faster and act as a better cleanser," he says.
Warn welcomes Beijingers to bring empty bottles to the store and fill up at its in-house ionized water pump anytime they want free of charge.
In addition to taking a daily cleanser such as the milk thistle, another item Warn notes is amorphophallus konjac root - also known as devil's tongue or voodoo - taken with alcohol. A Chinese brand that the store carries is named appropriately named Alcolcut It is priced at 170 yuan.
If you feel like reaching for that oily pizza or burger when you are seriously hung over, try something healthy instead.
Svante Jerling, chief entertainment officer at p1.cn, a social networking site for young and affluent Chinese, says that in addition to drinking lots of water and something with vodka in it, he likes to go for fresh sushi and sashimi when he is hung over.
"Salmon will feel a lot better than a big hamburger - and some nice tea would be good as well," Jerling explains.
Going to a hot spring could also be a good idea. For this past holiday, Jerling had already pre-booked a hot spring for him and his friends to go to after their big bash.
"Holiday means a lot of champagne and champagne means a lot of hangovers. Hot springs are nice because you can have cold showers, hot saunas and decent food -plus the hot sauna can help the body sweat out a lot of stuff out."
Finally, Jerling also likes taking salt tablets dissolved in water the next day.
"Every time I get friends coming from there (Sweden) I get them to buy a lot (of the tablet Resorb) for me - they help replenish the salt you lose the night before as well as essential minerals."
Similarly, Yukiko Marayama, who freelances for Chinese fashion magazine Rayli, likes to get her hangover cure imported from Japan.
"I use these vitamins from Japan, liver hydrolisate plus B vitamins and Liverurso, which help cleanse the alcohol. They are very useful and make me feel better."
