Avoiding a Wine Hangover
Published February 01, 2007
We've all been there. Those times in our lives when we swear that alcohol will never again touch our lips. These instances usually happen in the early mornings, with the cracks from the bathroom linoleum digging into our knees and our contact lenses glued to our eyeballs as if holding on for dear life, afraid that the heaves of our stomach will cause them to fall out.
With alcohol freely flowing - booze oozing out of bottles, people professing their love for each other, glasses of wine practically filling themselves up - it's easy to forget the hangover that awaits in the coming hours. Lurking in the bathroom, hiding beneath the sink or behind a closed shower curtain, this hangover is sure to pop into our lives anytime we play the role of the unsuspecting partier, leaving us to swear off drinking for life or longer.
Though everything has a price, and a hangover may very well be the price we pay for a wild night out, drinking wine does not always have to cost you in the form of a hangover. Taking some precautions can mean the difference between feeling fine and shooting a beady-eyed glare in the direction of every bottle in your wine cellar.
Drink Water
Alcohol dehydrates you, which is why the next day is met with a headache and the ability to drink three bottles of soda, five liters of water, and a pot of coffee without ever having to pee. The best way to thwart this is to drink a glass of water for every glass of wine you drink. While wine does contain water, the alcohol in the wine trumps the water's effect, disallowing you to utilize duality and count a glass of wine as both water and alcohol. Drinking a glass of water for every glass of wine will keep you hydrated, decreasing the chances of a rough morning.
Eat Before
Drinking on an empty stomach may seem like a good idea. As the sensation of wine glides down your esophagus, setting up residence by itself in your stomach and making you feel giddier than it would setting up residence next to a five course meal, drinking on empty can cause you to run out of gas in hangover hell. Eating about an hour before going out drinking, however, helps to absorb the alcohol, keeping you from getting too drunk too quickly. While you don't need to eat everything in sight, eating a meal containing bread or pasta is a good way to arm yourself with a hangover deterrent.
- Avoiding a Wine Hangover
- Published: February 01, 2007
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Tastes
- Filed Under: Sci/Tech: Health/Fitness, Tastes: Food and Drink
- Writer: Jenn Jordan
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Comments
Don't drink more than a couple of glasses of red ... it's full of tannins that can give you a shocking headache. While it might be indistiguishable from the real hangover at the time of suffering, it's actually a contributing factor to the ongoing pain level.
If you must drink large amounts of wine, drink white (perhaps become a chardonnay socialist/liberal and expand your social circle at the same time). However, I'd suggest drinking hooligan soup - good-quality, high alcohol beer - instead. Vast quantities of the stuff ... followed by a litre of water before retiring, if you can actually remember to do it.
While the oft-forgotten water will reduce the dehydration/diuretic effect of the alcohol, it won't actually stop the hangover fully.
There is only one cure for that: a good day's sleep and a couple of headache pills.
I've drunk more than a couple of glasses of red on more than one occasion, ok, lots more, and rarely had a hangover.
Not surprised you prefer "Hooligan Soup", STM, you old convict you!
Oh, there's a great cure for a hangover, hair of the dog! Works every time.





I can attest to the "drinking on an empty stomach" warning. I missed a football game in college because I stupidly drank like a fish while hungry. I was too hungover to even stand up straight in the shower the next day and had to sell my ticket to a friend.
Let's not forget what happened to Donna Martin at the prom, people! ;)