No matter how much fun you have while drinking alcohol, waking up with a hangover is never enjoyable.
Well, a doctor recently shared a six-step plan that is ‘medically proven’ to cure a hangover. Follow these instructions to brighten a dark day after a night out.
Anxiety, nausea and fatigue are common symptoms
When recovering from a night of sin, you are likely to experience a hangover – the term referring to a set of symptoms that occur as a consequence of drinking too much.
Typical symptoms may include fatigue, weakness, thirst, headache, muscle aches, nausea, stomach pain, vertigo, sensitivity to light and sound, anxiety, irritability, sweating, and increased blood pressure, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism from the National Institutes of Health.
A doctor and TikTok creator named Dr. Joe, M.D (Dr. Joe Whittington) shared a video explaining his plan that is ‘medically proven’ to cure a hangover, and it only consists of six steps!
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The first step after a night of heavy drinking is to drink water before you go to sleep and when you wake up the next morning. Not only is water great for your general health, but it can also aid your hangover.
Dr. Joe recommends you “chug a water bottle,” so you should aim to drink at least 16.9 oz (500 mL), which is the typical volume of a single-use water bottle.
Hangovers usually make people crave particular food and drinks. Well, Dr. Joe’s second step encourages you to eat a lot of carbohydrates to replete your sugar levels the next morning.
Mount Sinai explains that while your liver is processing alcohol, it stops releasing glucose. As a result, your blood sugar level can drop quickly, putting you at risk for low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). There are studies to back this up too, helping to relieve nausea.
The third step is to avoid dark alcohol when drinking, which have been proven to cause worse hangovers.
According to Mayo Clinic, congeners are found in larger amounts in dark liquors, such as brandy and bourbon, than in clear liquors, such as vodka and gin. In the alcoholic industry, congeners are substances, other than the desired type of alcohol and ethanol, produced during fermentation.
Congeners are more likely to produce a hangover or make a hangover worse. But drinking too much alcohol of any color can still make you feel bad the next morning.
Doctor Joe says caffeine can be a big boost to ‘cure’ a hangover
Dr. Joe states that while it is okay to take some pain relief for a hangover headache, you should avoid Tylenol, which is hard on your liver.
Medline Plus states that you should avoid taking any medicines for your hangover that contain acetaminophen (such as Tylenol), since acetaminophen may cause liver damage when combined with alcohol.
The fifth step is to drink coffee or tea, which will give your body caffeine and boost your energy levels. While drinking caffeine has no science to back up it ‘cures’ a hangover, studies show that it acts a stimulant and can counteract the effects of drinking alcohol, which is a depressant. Therefore, you’ll likely feel better.
Finally, you should take supplements containing vitamin B and zinc, which have been shown to improve hangover symptoms. In one study, results showed participants who ate food with higher amounts of zinc and vitamin B, found they felt better.
Advice Professor David Nutt suggests that zinc and vitamin B accelerate the metabolism of alcohol: “This study suggests that social drinkers who have a higher dietary intake of nicotinic acid and zinc report significantly less severe hangovers.”
Dr. Joe Whittington (known online as Dr. Joe, M.D.), an Emergency Room Doctor and media personality, is a board-certified MD (Doctor of Medicine) in Emergency Medicine. Information displayed on YouTube explains that he has been out of residency for a while now and uses his online presence to share knowledge and experiences in the Emergency Room.
