subject: How to avoid a party hangover: 5 simple tips [print this page] How to avoid a party hangover: 5 simple tips
"It's party time!" These few words always sound good, don't they? Doesn't matter, what party you are going to: Christmas party, birthday party, wedding, anniversary etc.
But how do you like another party-related word, which is hangover? Not really, right? Remember these terrible feelings the next day after the party if you had too much to drink? Well, I have no doubts, you know some of your own recipes how to get rid of your hangover; at least, you can find online some good tips how to cure your next-day-after-party headache and other unpleasant feelings.
I would like to talk to you today about what to do for not having hangover at all or how to minimize side effects of your wild party.
All my tips are from the experiences of my own and friends of mine. I have to mention, I am originally from Ukraine and most of my friends are Ukrainian. According to a popular belief, Ukraine is a country where people are drinking a lot, so, they for sure are suppose to know everything about drinking. Speaking about "drinking a lot", it depends what part of Ukraine are you from. If to compare eastern and western Ukraine, I would say people of western Ukraine drink less than people from eastern Ukraine and people from the eastern Ukraine drink less than people from Russia, which is the eastern neighbor of Ukraine.
Also, there is a difference in drinking culture of individuals even in the same community. For example, I grew up in West Ukrainian family where horilka (Ukrainian word for vodka) was seldom served at our festive dinners. We used to celebrate our family gatherings mostly with wine. We never made homemade horilka; although many of our neighbors did (making a homemade horilka is very common in Ukraine, especially in countryside). So, I know what proper drinking is, and these 5 simple steps on how to prevent a party hangover work just excellent for me and for my friends, that's why I decided to share it with you.
But! Before I start, here is one really good suggestion on how to avoid a hangover. This is way much simpler than the next five tips: actually, if you do follow this one, you don't really need the next five. And the rule is, "Do not drink too much!" That's it! Very simple!
Well, life is not that simple, especially a party life, and if you happened to have more than one (two, three, five etc) drinks and if you really care about your good awakening next morning, you are best to follow these five tips:
1.Don't consume alcoholic drinks without food. Have some snack or better still, a meal with your drink. In Ukraine we don't usually drink without having some food and that's why we don't suffer that much from hangovers (well, except heavy drunkards). When you have food with alcohol, the toxic effect of the alcohol is minimized.
2.Have your drink with a matching meal. If you have a big variety of food at your party, it is best to choose a drink that matches your food. I think, everyone knows some basic gourmet rules, such as to pair red meat with red wine and white meat and seafood with white wine. A beer tastes the best with: nuts; salty or smoky fish; chips; and, of course, sausages and sauerkraut. This rule (having your drink with matching food) will help you not only to prevent your hangover, but to avoid some unpleasant feelings in your digestive system.
3.Don't mix red wine with white wine. If you really want to avoid a headache next morning, you better have a one kind of drink whole night. It means, if you have red wine with your meal, don't have a white wine or beer this night at all, otherwise your head is not going to say you "thank you" the next day.
4. Go from low to high percentage of alcohol. This is really, really good rule for proper drinking and in some cases, if you are follow only this rule you will be hangover free the next day after the party. What does this rule mean? It means, always have a drink of lower percentage of alcohol before higher and never ever opposite. To be more exact, never have beer after wine and never have wine after the stronger liquor. The worst scenario is if you are having beer after horilka (vodka). In this case a heavy hangover on the next day is guaranteed. And please don't listen to a popular Russian-Ukrainian expression, such as "horilka (vodka) without beer is a wasted money" Which is, in translation from a dry Slavic humor, means "You will never be really drunk if you are having horilka (vodka) without beer" Well, if your goal at this party is not to have a good time with your family and friends, but just to get drunk with following hangover next day, you better not listen to any of my tips.
5. Avoid (or minimize) drinking cocktails. Or don't have a cocktail with more than one alcoholic beverage in it. I know, it sounds strange to anybody from the western world, where cocktails at a party are a big thing, but if you are really concerned about your condition the next day, you better have no more than one cocktail, especially if you had something strong before, like horilka (vodka), rye whiskey, tequila, grappa, brandy etc.
So, have a great party and stay hangover free! And please, please, please don't drive if you had unreasonable amount of drink.
