UH-OH! This holiday weekend fell on a Friday this year and you partied all weekend long and woke up feeling horrible today! You over-ate, over-drank, raided your kids whole candy bag sparing them from all the sugar, or even worse, polished off all the leftover Halloween candy that wasn't handed out to trick-or-treaters.....sound familiar? Well I'm here to give you a few tips on how to recover quick and get you back on track and feeling great again!
Bouncing back from an over-indulgent weekend may seem impossible to you right at this very moment when your head is pounding, your mouth is dry from dehydration, and your tummy is bloated and gassy. But with a few simple tricks you can be good as new by this afternoon!
The reason one gets either an alcohol or food hangover is that the liver cannot process and metabolize the breakdown of these hard to process foods and alcohols. By following the tips below you can help your poor liver out and get it working more efficiently allowing your body to recover faster.
Tip #1:
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!!!!!!!!!!! The more water you drink the more toxins you can flush from your body and the more hydrated all the cells in your body will become so that they can wake up and function normally. Most cases of hangover and over-indulgent symptoms come from simply being dehydrated. The more you hydrate the faster you will recover.
Tip #2:
Alkalize and Mineralize your body. Over-indulging can not only cause dehydration but can also cause you to become mineral depleted and highly acidic. This can be reversed by adding alkalizing citrus, cucumber, ginger, and mint to 3 liters of water and drinking throughout the day. Not only will this help hydrate you faster from the additional electrolytes you are adding to your water but it will also help quell some of that debilitating nausea and bloating you may be experiencing by adding fresh ginger and mint to your water. Ginger and mint both have a long history of relieving nausea and also have the added benefit of tasting great and making your water go down much easier.
Tip #3:
Eat your Protein: Eating lean light protein has been shown to help reduce the side effects of hangover. Protein is full of amino acids which help the liver detoxify and reduce the symptoms of hangover. You do not need to eat a grease laden meal to feel better. A couple eggs or a piece of fish or chicken will do the trick.
Tip #4:
Get your butt up and get outside for some fresh air! Fresh air always has a way of making us all feel better and if the sun is shining even better!!! Sit outside if you are feeling too horrible or better yet take a long walk and focus on your breathe. Taking in deep slow breathes through your nose and releasing fully through the mouth. Get that blood pumping even though all you want to do is curl up on the couch with a blanket and watch movies all day in the dark.
The more you move and circulate that blood the quicker you will feel good again. If you are feeling a little better in the afternoon maybe even try fitting in a gentle yoga class. I would recommend avoiding anything strenuous or overly hot as you are already dehydrated and that only furthers the problem.
Tip #5:
Avoid Coffee! Coffee may sound like the best thing at the moment but caffeine narrows blood vessels and can actually raise your blood pressure and inhibit circulation which is needed to move blood through liver to detoxify. If you really need coffee to get rid of that pounding headache, drink a very small amount to take the edge off and continue drinking water. Remember that water not coffee is the answer to your woes, as coffee can further your dehydration!
Tip #6:
Take an afternoon nap. A short nap in the afternoon will help re-energize you and make getting through your day easier.
Tip #7:
Eat lots of alkaline fruits and vegetables and avoid anything heavy. The less your body has to try to digest the easier it will be to flush all that over-indulgent junk from your system. Some find that even sticking with a day of juicing is the quickest way to recovery. Juicing doesn't require the normal digestive energy it takes to deal with whole food and therefore frees up valuable resources and energy to focus on detoxing. This can result in diminished bloating and gas, more energy, and replenishing vital nutrients. A full day of juicing and hydrating and you will bounce back to normal in no time!
Tip #8:
Use essential oils like the combination of lavender and peppermint to relax and invigorate at the same time. These two oils can help to ease muscle tension, increase energy, reduce bloating, and eliminate nausea.
Tip #9:
Relax in a bath with Epsom salts. Epsom salt baths will not only help relax your muscles but will also help eliminate that morning after bloat or what I like to call "puff". You know the "puff" I'm talking about! When you wake up and you look in the mirror and think ugh, what did I do to myself?
Whether its from drinking too much or simply eating the wrong foods, we often times wake up the next day with sudden water retention around the hips and belly or even for some the legs and almost always have the "puffy" look to our faces. A nice epsom salt bath will allow the magnesium salts to absorb through the skin and help eliminate water retention and that dreaded "puff"! Alcohol depletes magnesium in the body and this is a great way to help replenish.
Tip #10:
Drink homemade Bone Broth (Click here for recipe)!! Bone broth is full of vital minerals and collagen to help detoxify and rebuild electrolytes. It is also very comforting and soothing to an upset stomach and requires no digestion.
Follow as many of these suggestions as you can and stick with it. You will feel better in no time!!
Here is one of my favorite recipes for detox water! Enjoy!!!
Ingredients:
3 liters of fresh filtered water
1 large cucumber sliced
1 grapefruit sliced
2 lemons sliced
1 lime sliced
a handful of fresh mint leaves
1 inch piece of fresh pressed, juiced, or sliced ginger
Add all ingredients to a large pitcher and drink over the day. Feel free to add extra of what you like or omit anything you don't like in recipe.
As always....In good health and happiness,
Brandy Augustine PhD