What to Eat When You Have a Hangover

When you have a hangover, you are suffering deeply from a headache, dry mouth, dizziness and nausea. The biggest problem is that, even though you are nauseous, you need to eat and drink something to make you feel better. Here are some effective food remedies for hangovers.

One common remedy is to drink is more of the "hair of the dog that bit you". This is not really a remedy because it only prolongs the effects of the hangover and you can actually get worse before you get better. Drinking the "hair of the dog" will counteract some of the symptoms in the beginning but, as the liver now has more toxins to process, you are actually making yourself worse.

Another remedy that people often think of is burnt toast. Burnt toast contains burnt carbon in it, but it isn't the same as the activated charcoal found in many over the counter remedies for a hangover. While you certainly can have burnt toast and it will soothe your stomach, there is no benefit to burning it and you can have your toast normally toasted. This will help soothe your stomach and it will taste good as well.

Black coffee contains caffeine which clamps down on your blood vessels and improves the headache, especially if you take it with acetaminophen. You need to be aware, however, that caffeine is a diuretic, meaning that it causes you a loss of water in your body. Drink plenty of water along with a cup of black coffee and you will have the best of both worlds.

Some people recommend eating fatty foods or fried foods to get rid of a hangover. Fried foods can be irritating to the stomach when you have a hangover so be wary of that problem. Fatty foods, on the other hand, stay in the stomach longer, so when you drink, the absorption of alcohol is slowed down. You will have additional time to absorb and process the byproducts of drinking. It is best to eat the fried or fatty foods during or before drinking so that you can prevent the hangover symptoms from occurring in the first place. People in the Mediterranean areas of the world take a tablespoonful of olive oil before they drink in order to prevent a hangover. Once you have the hangover, however, fatty foods won't make a difference.

Fried or boiled eggs give you plenty of energy and also contain a great amount of cysteine that breaks down acetaldehyde in the body. It is acetaldehyde that is one of the toxins left over from drinking. Eggs can help the liver function better and get rid of acetaldehyde along with the liver. So eggs are an excellent choice for a hangover breakfast.

Bananas are touted as good hangover remedies. You eat them after you wake up in the morning. They contain a great many missing electrolytes, including potassium. Sports drinks containing potassium and Kiwi fruit that contain potassium are also good ways to replace the potassium lost by the diuretic effect of alcohol.

Never forget to drink plenty of water before, during and after drinking. It is the best hangover remedy around and will dilute out toxins and give you back the water you lost during your drinking binge.

Pamella Neely writes about how to lose weight for people who want to lose weight, including the proven tip of eating apples to lose weight.