The Hangover Cure - An Elusive Foe

Have you ever drunk a bit too much alcohol and woke up with a heavy head?

Through the ages there have been nearly as many hangover remedies invented as there are varieties of mixed drinks. Unfortunately, most don't work. If you've made too many trips to the punch bowl, you'll be all too familiar with the pounding head, queasy stomach, dry mouth and other miserable symptoms that accompany a hangover. But even though people have been getting hangovers for thousands of years, doctors aren't sure exactly what they are or what's the best remedy.

Hangover relief always seems to be just out of reach. However, a few time-tested hangover remedies seem to work for most revellers, most of the time.

Exercising - Though it is often the last thing that a hung over person feels like doing, one of the best hangover remedies is physical exercise. This helps to get the blood circulating, carries needed oxygen to the brain and helps to rid the body of toxins, which contribute to a hangover.

Try getting a little food in your tummy as well. In 2008, Discover Health decided to study which hangover remedies really helped. Turns out water and juice are definitely going to help, but so will eating eggs and bananas. Greasy food didn't bode as well, but if it makes you feel better, go for it.

The hangover is truly an elusive foe. Even when drinkers know their own tolerances and limits, hangovers seem to strike with a great deal of inconsistency. Similarly, hangover remedies seem to work with varying efficacy. This is because the hangover is actually a very complicated biological phenomenon, which is affected by widely varying factors, including, physiology, the specific alcohol involved and even the drinker's emotional state.

For an alternative hangover cure to consuming fresh fruit or fruit juice, the healing properties of fresh or dried herbs can help fortify your body as it recovers. Of all the herbs, two are best known as hangover remedies: milk thistle and angostura.

You've probably seen angostura in the form of angostura bitters, a tiny brown paper-wrapped bottle behind nearly every bar. Angostura bitters are a bartender's best friend. A shake or two in hot water, club soda, ginger ale or lemon-lime soda soothes stomachs and helps re-hydrate. And milk thistle, also known as Silymarin, is known to protect liver cells from being infiltrated by toxins. Take milk thistle capsules before a night out to protect your liver and take another dose the next morning to help fortify a taxed immune system.