What You Should Eat When Hungover and What to Avoid

Cactus extract

Sounds weird, but if it works, it works! Even though the jury is still out on the efficacy of cactus juice as a cure for hangovers, the results have been very promising. In fact, the extract of the prickly pear cactus’ skin not only can get rid of your hangover, but also can get rid of annoying symptoms like dry mouth, loss of appetite and nausea.

Tomatoes

The thing is, you deplete your vitamin C reserves after an excessive night of drinking. And in order to replenish your body of the same, you need to eat as many tomatoes as you can. Think that’s too much? Try tomato soup or homemade tomato. To make things interesting, make pasta sauce from it and eat it in heavy doses!

Salt

You tend to pee a lot when you’re drunk, which means you’re losing a lot of sodium via your urine. So what to eat when hungover to supplement your loss? Well, for starters you can put extra salt in your regular food the next day, or you can eat naturally salty food items like crackers and pretzels. You can also opt for coconut water or Gatorade, which not only replenish your body’s sodium levels but also add much needed liquids to it.

Water, liquids and drinks

Duh! Peeing means losing a lot of water, so you have to drink at least 2 liters of water more than you normally would. And speaking of liquids, you should also opt for sports drinks. Might sound like an odd suggestion, but the truth is you need to replenish your body’s electrolyte levels as well. It prevents you from feeling further dehydrated, not to mention how it makes you feel less tired and fresher instantly. Coconut juice or other drinks with high levels of electrolytes are highly recommended.

Bouillon soup

Native to Haiti, this heavy broth soup is mainly composed of various veggies, potatoes and pieces of meat. If you feel like eating something too salty is not for you, then opt for this. It not only provides your body with potassium and salt, but since everything is in liquid or semi solid form, it also makes the digestion much easier for your stomach. And Lord knows your stomach needs as much rest as it can get when having a hangover!

Bananas

Speaking of potassium, what to eat when hungover to get more of it? Well, what better way to increase your levels than eating bananas? Not only are they a good source of potassium, but they’re also a very natural and organic way to keep your stomach full! Not to mention how easy it is for your digestive track to break down bananas into smaller pieces.

And for those of you who didn’t know it, potassium is important because it plays an important role in nerve and muscle functionality. Lesser quantities of it in your system are the reason why you feel dizzy, are unable to walk properly or move your body like you want.

Toasted bread

When you’re hungover it’s always best to stick to bland food that won’t upset your stomach. And who doesn’t love to eat toast? You can spice things up by adding a little butter, peanut butter or jam to your toast. But make sure that you eat a small quantity of it first to ascertain whether or not your stomach will allow you to have such foods, without you puking them all over your kitchen floor.

Honey

Food items that have fructose in them speed up the process of your body removing all traces of alcohol from it by burning it. Honey is a great source of fructose – more so because it’s natural! You can add honey to slices of toast, make yourself a hot cuppa tea or eat it raw. The choice is completely up to you!

Fruit juice

Much like honey, fruits contain a high amount of fructose in them, so don’t hesitate to drink lots of fruit juice. And when I say juice, I do mean the freshly squeezed type, not the one bought off from the shelves of supermarkets. Fresh fruits are an excellent option as well.

Fatty foods

It’s a common misconception that eating greasy or oily foods will help absorb alcohol from your body. The truth is these foods are good before you go out to drink, because that’s when they work for you. However, if you eat them when hungover already happens, you’re simply going to upset your stomach instead of making you feel less hungover. Not to mention how eating this much fat and/or unhealthy food isn’t good for your body anyway.

Coffee

Much like alcohol, coffee is diuretic, which means it will make you pee more. The more you pee, the more potassium, sodium, water and what not you lose. So practically, it’s like alcohol without the alcoholic content. Avoid it at all costs.