Can water cure a hangover? Essential for Students Survival

The hangover is something many of us will have experienced, and go on to experience again. The dull throbbing headache that can stay with us for a day or two. An unquenchable thirst to a painful headache that means lifting your head from the soft pillow on which is laid brings on dizziness, unlike anything you have never known before.

This is the mother-of-all-hangovers, the one where we say ‘I’ll never drink again’ or promise ourselves we will never mix alcoholic beverages again.

The folly of youth?

Hangovers are not the exclusive domain of the college student. However, it is true to say that the majority of graduates will testify that college was the place where they learnt many things, including the ‘art’ of drinking and dealing with hangovers.

The large, greasy fry up for breakfast is one tool in the ‘cure a hangover toolkit’ along with hiding under the duvet for at least 24 hours. The hangover, however, does have an antithesis, and it is a substance we all know well – water.

The definition of a hangover

In a nutshell, a hangover is a form of self-inflicted dehydration.

As we go about our daily routine, we lose fluid. From sweating, breathing, urinating and so on, we lose moisture from our bodies. As we make our way to the pub and nightclub, this process is naturally occurring.

Alcohol is a diuretic. This means it makes us urinate. And so, with every tipple and pint that passes out lips, our internal organs - the kidneys mainly - are processing this liquor and sending it as fast as it can to the bladder.

This can go on for some hours; add to the mix the dancing, laughing and shouting too, and your body is somewhat active even if you slurring your words and telling everyone you love them. You are still perspiring and losing moisture with every breath you exhale, every move you make.

You stagger home, a hybrid form of half running, half walking and half tripping with every step, to collapse into bed and fall into a deep, snore ridden sleep. For hours.

And all this time, your body is processing the alcohol, the kebab and so on so that when you wake several hours later, your head is throbbing and spinning. Every move of the head is painful. With every blink, the light sends a pain through the eyeballs that you can only assume is what it would be like to be poked in the eye with a hot poker.

You are hungover. You are dehydrated.

The cure

Water is needed in such a situation but, if you think that you will bounce out of bed and be fit for a 12-hour shift, this is not going to happen. Water is not a miracle cure but, it will start to decrease the unpleasant side effects of a hangover over time.

Here is how increasing water consumption can help with headaches not being so bad;

• ‘Top up the tanks’ – before you hit the town, make sure your body is plump with hydration. Keep your water levels topped up throughout the day in preparation as this means the body has a better defense against the thirst inducing effects of alcohol.
• Slow down – swapping at least one every three drinks from an alcoholic one to a soft one is a great way of keeping these hydration levels a little higher than they normally would be. If asking for a glass of water cramps your style, ask for a soft drink and pretend there is a spirit in it.
• Have water waiting for you – after your stagger home, get the hydration levels bolstered before you sleep with a good glug of water. If you have it waiting for you for when your return, you can knock it back and fall on to your bed.
• After sleep – start hydrating as soon as you can and again, having a glass by the side of the bed ready to sip at in the morning is the best way forward. You may be barely able to focus on the glass, but those first few sips of water will start working immediately.
• Keep it topped up during the day – keep drinking water. Slowly and often is the key to getting those hydration levels back to where they should be. Eating well too, is important but another good night’s sleep will seal the deal.

It is not a cure for a hangover. Nothing is, apart from not drinking but understanding the role that water plays in our bodies is important. From plump skin to feeling human the morning after the night before, water does so much for us.

Written by Angel Springs - Suppliers of Water Coolers to the Education Sector.

For more information about the benefits of water for students visit - http://www.angelsprings.com/blog/tag/university/