Menu and Wine Suggestions
	Cocktail Recipes
	Wedding Packages Ask The Wine Expert Fun Stuff!
		Enter your email address below, then click the 'Join List' button:
	Visit amazon.com for all your books and music needs.

Hangover Cures

The care and feeding of pink elephants

Maybe hangovers are nature's way of telling us that too much alcohol is not good for us, eh? Chances are, if you drink alcohol, at some point in your life you've drunk way too much of it. When one drinks like that, one must be prepared for the consequences. We all have our own private understanding for that dreadful feeling, but one recent and insightful characterization was: "My mouth tastes like I stayed up all night licking Morubian postage stamps." No one has been able to come up with a sure-fire way to treat a hangover, but there are some steps to minimize the pain. At least until the next big party, right?

Sometimes you'll know in advance that one night will be a particularly sobriety-challenged evening. Here are some precautionary measures to consider:

• Taking a gram or more of vitamin C for the few days leading up to that evening may help your body clear the alcohol more quickly than it normally would.
• If you know that you'll be drinking in a few hours, make sure that you've got something in your stomach. Breads and pasta will slow the absorption of alcohol, and there's generally a pizza joint somewhere around the bar scene

Consider your beverage of choice.

Congeners are toxic chemicals that are formed during fermentation, and some liquors have more of them than others. For instance:

• Vodka has less congeners than gin.
• Most scotch whiskey has about four times more congeners than does gin.
• Brandy, rum and single-malt scotch have about six times as many congeners as gin.
• Bourbon drinkers ingest eight times the amount of congeners as do gin drinkers (whew!).

Red wine has more congeners than white wine does, so consider having fish, rather than steak for dinner.

Plan for the big evening

Now that you've chosen your poison, adopt these strategies regarding mixers and other pitfalls:

• Carbonation speeds alcohol absorption, so consider mixing drinks with water instead of the fizzies.
• Stay away from sweet tropical drinks, like zombies and pina coladas, and avoid sugary foods like cookies, cake and chocolate while drinking. Sweet flavors make it difficult to know how much alcohol you are taking in, and some people feel that the combination makes one's head spin.

Safeguard against gross over-indulgence

It's difficult to keep your wits about you when drinking heavily, but if you can remember, keep these things in mind.

• Disappearing into the kitchen for a big glass of water between alcoholic drinks may be the single best thing that you can do for yourself all evening.
• Milk and dairy products (and any other high-fat foods) also retard absorption of alcohol, so eat those crackers and cheese that your gracious host put out.
• Why not pace yourself for the evening, rather than standing near the keg until it runs dry?

Before you go to bed, drink some more water. Down a B-complex vitamin as well, and you'll be ahead of the game in the morning.

Carefully now, placing one foot in front of the other, make your way to the kitchen and follow these steps:

• Drink a large glass of water, then take an appropriate dosage of aspirin or other non-prescription painkiller with another big glass of water.
• Got any juice around? Drink that also.

Caffeine dehydrates your body, so stick with juice, water and milk.

Cope with the morning after, part two: nourish yourself

• Eggs are more difficult to digest than some other breakfast foods, so have some toast and fruit instead, or a small bowl of cereal. Dairy products, yogurt excepted, also give some people digestive difficulty.

   

• A tablespoon or two of honey does wonders for some of us and believe it or not, sauerkraut juice is supposed to neutralize those nasty congeners still running around your system.

If all else fails, go lie down in a dark room. If your schedule allows you to stay there all day, you could be in pretty good shape by the evening.