‘Tis the time for Tipple Tips

Hangovers are the antidote to self-inflicted fun

1. Excess alcohol overwhelms the liver

   Excess alcohol cannot be effectively eliminated from your body therefore harmful metabolic byproducts build-up  e.g. acetaldehyde.

2. Alcohol causes dehydration

   Alcohol inhibits ADH secretion (Anti-diuretic hormone). This causes you to need to urinate.

3. Alcohol depletes your nutrient levels

   Primarily electrolytes e.g. Potassium.

4. Alcohol affects your blood-sugar balance

5. You can be sensitive to other substances in alcohol

   Your body can overreact to sulphites + sugar + colourings + congeners

   Note:  Congeners are substances produced during the fermentation process (other than alcohol).

My top Tipple-Tips

1. Really focus on what you're drinking

   If you buy cheap alcohol, then you’ll treat it like cheap plonk. You won’t really appreciate the quality of it (the aroma, taste, or texture). You will be more inclined to drink more of it, and more often.

   I encourage my clients to drink high quality, more expensive alcohol.  This way they savour it (sit on it) and are reluctant to drink large quantities of it.

   Note: An average person’s liver can only break down around one standard drink of alcohol per hour.

2. Time yourself

   Your body-clock works in strange and mysterious ways. If you drink alcohol at lunch-time it tends to make you sleepy. If you drink it too late at night, it interrupts your sleep. And, if you drink even the slightest bit past ‘The Witching Hour’ the effects can be very disturbing (the liver will struggle to metabolise alcohol and thus intensify the ill-effects — including making you feel + act drunker!)

   The best time of the day to metabolise the ‘demon drink’ is generally 5pm—10pm. This makes after-work drinks, and dinner-dates the perfect time to partake in a tipple.

   I generally tell my clients who are over 30 years old to make 8pm their cut-off time. (As you physically can’t handle liquor as well as you did in your 20s.)

   Note:  If you are a female, you will probably find that the rate at which you metabolise alcohol is variable depending upon where you are in your menstrual cycle. You may find that the first two weeks of your cycle you can metabolise alcohol better than the last two (after you’ve ovulated). If you’re on ‘The Pill’ you may find that you’re more susceptible to hangovers in general…

3. Cheer up, Charlie!

   Straight fructose (fructose without the fruit) speeds up the metabolism of alcohol by your liver.

   If you’ve over-indulged with your ‘Grog’, make sure you chug back 1—2 250ml glasses of Charlie’s OJ or Coconut Water before you retire for the evening. (Or let the last thing you order at the bar be a glass or two of pure tomato juice).

   Note: Make sure the product is pure juice (that there is no table sugar added).

   Alternatively to juice, you could have 1—2 heaping dessert spoons of honey, agave syrup, or maple syrup (either take directly off the spoon or add it to warm water and drink).

   Important: Don’t think you can save this trick for the next day — it’s likely to make you feel worse when you actually have a Hangover.

   Note:  I don’t encourage my clients to have straight fructose at any other time other than if they have been drinking alcohol. (I only encourage them to eat fructose in the form of fruit – and only in moderation.) This is because fructose wreaks metabolic havoc in the body.

4. Shake it off

   A Banana Protein Shake is one of the best brekky’s you can have after a night of heavy boozing.

   Blend together:
   1x ripe banana
   1x serving of protein powder, and
   250ml of non-dairy milk

   The ‘narnie’ helps to replace lost potassium and gives you a serotonin boost. And the protein powder provides the amino acids needed to speed up alcohol detoxification.

   As an added bonus: There are no ‘cooking smells’ to set-you-off, and a ‘milky’ smoothie helps to ease irritated stomach linings.

   Note: You’ll obviously need to continually hydrate throughout the day – as you normally would. However, in this instance it would pay to add a pinch of unrefined salt to each 1L water bottle that you drink. This will help to replace electrolytes and boost your lowered blood pressure (due to your low water volume).
   If you are suffering from mental confusion or you’re feeling shaky (as an alternative) you might like to add 1 tsp of magnesium powder to your 1L bottle of water. Sip away on this. (This mineral helps to create energy + relax you.)