Which booze is best if you want to dodge that dreaded party season hangover?
It's not necessarily how much you drink but what you drink that’s the problem… here’s how to minimise the effects of your night on the tiles
THAT feeling when the room is spinning, your head is banging and you are desperate for water is all too familiar to many of us.
The dreaded morning after the night before is a killer during the party season when, no matter how hard you try and avoid it, there’s always a glass of something waiting for you at the end of a long day.
No matter what day of the week we’re talking there’s always an excuse to get sozzled during silly season so you might as well be savvy about it.
If you want to avoid the dreaded hangover, it’s worth your knowing that it’s not necessarily how much you drink — but rather what you’re knocking back that’s causing the pain.
All types of alcohol are variations of the chemical ethanol, and the liver and brain break this down the same way.
But the cause of a hangover is largely due to the extra ingredients — like sugar and other preservatives — that leaves you in the most pain post-boozing.
“When we digest alcohol, the body has to convert it to acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde can be a burden in the system and cause unpleasant symptoms,” Yoko Inoue told , who studied holistic nutrition and is the founder of superfood cafe, Shokuiku.
“Vodka has the least ‘hangover causing’ toxins in them, especially congeners compared to other dark liquors like scotch and whisky. So when selecting a drink, choose cleaner options and space out drinks with extra glasses of water.”
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That sore throbbing head is mainly down to dehydration while that sick feeling is down to the alcohol playing with your stomach lining, causing your gut to produce too much gastric acid.
But according to Yoko, drinks that are higher in congeners (think red wine, brandy and whisky) tend to make a hangover even worse, because they can disrupt the levels of acid in your body.
“Preservatives in wine called sulfites and congeners in spirit are chemical compounds you need to watch out for,” Yoko said.
“Common congeners include amines, amides, acetones, polyphenols and histamine.”
Congeners stem from the ageing process wine, whisky and brandy all go through, but can also be used as colour or flavour enhancers that are added to spirits.
But what about champagne?
The problem with bubbles is that people usually drink them quickly and before they have eaten.
Sparkling wines are often connected to hangovers due to the carbon dioxide that is pumped into the bottle to cause the fizz.
This causes the alcohol to be quickly absorbed into the blood stream, quicker than other drinks.
“You get a faster rate of absorption, higher blood alcohol levels — and brain levels — if you drink champagne as opposed to something non-carbonated,” said Boris Tabakoff, pharmacology professor at the University of Colorado.
“Around two thirds of people get drunker faster when they drink champagne, or other carbonated drinks like Prosecco or Cava.”
While you should also keep an eye on your booze consumption it also helps to eat certain foods before a session to avoid the hangover.
“Foods like broccoli, kale, lemon, turmeric, beetroot are great for your liver,” Yoko said.
“Also, herbs such as milk thistle, dandelion, Chanca piedra, burdock and schisandra berries should be included in your diet to assist with the liver function.”