After Effects

Everyone knows that if you have too much to drink on a night out, there will be consequences. The morning hangover is the punishment and it can be pretty unpleasant. There are certain steps you can take in advance to reduce the after effects of drinking, although the inevitable will happen if you drink to excess.

Your mother probably told you not to drink on an empty stomach and she was right. Eating a meal beforehand and drinking lots of water is good preparation. When you start drinking, slipping in a few soft drinks will help too. Brandy, port and red wine are usually the worst culprits for making you feel ill the next day.

If you wake up and the room is spinning and your head is pounding, the after effects have kicked in. Your tongue will feel like a hedgehog, your mouth is dry and a circus trapeze act has found its way into your stomach. There won't be a shortage of advice; everyone you know will have a miracle hangover cure that they swear by. Some of these are bizarre, like eating weird combinations of food Certainly, eating a full breakfast will help but grilling is better than the traditional standby of the fry up. Spicy food helps some sufferers but it may cause indigestion.

Drink water, fruit juice or eat fruit. It helps with the dehydration. Some people find that sports nutrition drinks give them a lift. There are numerous recipes for concoctions created in the blender, involving vitamins, juice and even raw egg. You may prefer the hangover to drinking some of these, especially if it turns out to be green. Ginger ale is said to calm the stomach. If you don't want to take headache tablets, use an icepack. There is a British tradition known as hair of the dog that basically means ingesting more alcohol the next day. This merely stalls for time and the after effects will catch up with the body eventually.

The best advice is not to drink too much in the first place, but most of us have been there. The worst situation is if you have to get up for work the next day. It's probably best not to bother. You won't achieve anything whilst in that state and you'll just spread doom and gloom around. The boss is unlikely to be sympathetic unless you've both been on the same function and he has the same after effects as you. Lie down in a darkened room with your preferred hangover cure and promise yourself that it will never happen again. And it won't. Until the next time.