Hangovers are practically unavoidable at weddings. The free-flowing champagne, the festive atmosphere, the occasional lack of enough substantial food all lead to wild dancing and merry-making the night of and headaches the morning after.
This topic was fresh on the lips of many of the party-goers this weekend because of a very entertaining article on a hangovers and their cures (or lack thereof) in the May 26th issue of The New Yorker. Joan Acocella makes the point that in the 21st century, with all our technological and medical advances, shouldn't we have a cure for this oh-so-common condition?
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/26/080526fa_fact_acocella
My husband, who never met a malady he couldn't cure with an over-the-counter medication, be it balm, salve or liquid decided what we needed was electrolytes! I've taken electrolyte pills with success before, but we had none and I didn't want to drink 1000 calories of gatorade. So after walking the 10 sweltering blocks to downtown Dallas' (only?) CVS he declared the answer to our prayers: Pedialyte! I was dubious, but game.
Pedialyte is of course, for kids, who are dehydrated for reasons other than drinking. We hope. Its website reads, "To help your child rehydrate and feel better quickly, choose Pedialyte®" Tips on ingesting Pedialyte as an adult: 1) Drink it on the rocks. Lukewarm pedialyte is like drinking corn syrup without the corny-sweet taste. 2) Better yet, drink it while holding your nose and wash it down with a water chaser.
All that said. I'm a believer. It did its job of rehydrating us post-rehearsal dinner, pre-wedding.
As a public service, please share in comments any hangover treatments/cures you have found successful, no matter how wacky!
1 comment:
Here is my sure-fire, semi-preventative hangover cure. When you finish with a night of heavy drinking, follow these steps:
- STAY AWAKE at all costs until you are as sober as possible. Watch TV, check Facebook, do a crossword puzzle, just don't get in bed unless there's something in that bed that will keep you awake (*wink*).
- while you are staying awake, drink at least 3 glasses of water
- while you are drinking those three glasses of water, take 3 Advil
- if you like, also have a light snack, which will help spread out any remaining alcohol in your stomach and also buffer the advil
Obviously the last two are nothing new, but it's really the staying awake that, while counterintuitive, prevents the hangover. It can seem painful to keep yourself away from sleep (especially if Carson Daly is the only thing on TV), and counterintuitive as "sleeping it off" has long been considered the only cure, but try it out and I'm sure you'll be surprised to find that it really works.
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