Often our bodies crave carbs when we’re seeking foods to help cure a hangover but eating those greasy fried chips or fry-up will only make you feel worse – instead go for slow energy releasing complex carbs such as oatcakes and hummus or even a bowl of porridge with some added hemp protein and berries – these will help keep your blood sugars balanced without turning your stomach.
A smoothie is another fab idea for hangovers – when we drink alcohol we become dehydrated so our potassium levels are depleted, therefore having foods high in potassium is a great idea – you can add them all in and whizz them up in a smoothie – e.g, avocado, bananas, leafy greens and even dates (but go easy on them as they are high in sugar even if it’s natural) with some protein powder for added energy boost.
Rehydrate quickly – drink water
Water is your best friend when hungover – when drinking alcohol try to drink a glass in-between drinks and before you go to sleep down a big glass and in the morning too – keep drinking all day to rehydrate but drink away from foods as drinking water when you are eating can wash away digestive enzymes that are needed to digest the food, so to keep the gut happy eat and drink with half hour to an hour in between especially when hungover.
Coconut water is also wonderful to drink as it’s full of electrolytes like sodium and potassium which are both depleted by boozing to quench the thirst and beat those hangover blues – as well as kombucha or water kefir. Both are amazing especially if you are feeling nauseous – they are full of healthy gut bacteria to help repopulate your microbiome and keep your queasy tummy happy.
Eggs are a wonderful protein rich source to fill the belly and should be high on your ‘go to’ list of foods to help cure a hangover – they are high in B12 and amino acids such as cysteine and taurine which are building blocks for proteins, and cysteine especially, helps the body clear acetaldehyde more quickly which is the chemical produced after boozing that helps to create hangover symptoms – cysteine is also a precursor to glutathione the master antioxidant that the liver needs to help with detox.
Get yourself in a pickle
Eating pickled foods is a great idea, if you can stomach it! They are high in sodium which gets depleted during a hangover. You can eat the pickles or drink the juice; making your own is even better and super easy! I have an online course on fermentation that will teach you how to make sauerkraut.
And beyond those tips – taking activated charcoal on an empty stomach is great for sucking toxins up and excreting them, the same with chlorella – a blue-green algae – and finally sweating in a sauna or exercising is great as well, as when we sweat we release toxins so will help to excrete the booze from our system more quickly.
For more healthy eating and dietary tips, visit our Nutrition channel.
About the Author / Mays Al-Ali
Mays Al-Ali is a registered nutritionist, nutritional therapist & naturopath and certified yoga, breathwork and meditation teacher. She is the founder of the Healthy Mays clinic working with clients to help them achieve their health goals such as gut health, hormone & histamine balancing, weight loss & disordered eating, liver cleansing, stress, anxiety, insomnia and so much more. She loves hosting transformational wellness nutrition and yoga retreats and has 2 coming up in Ibiza in 2023. All details found on www.healthymays.com. She also posts lots of free content on her @healthymays Instagram channel. Do follow her for more tips.
