Ho! Ho! Ho! So you’ve made it through the office parties, manic airport queues, and trying not to kill your family members on day one of seeing them. Well done, you. Now with a few weeks of sleep debt, endless party hangovers and racing to wrap up the end of the year at the office, you’re feeling kind of run down and HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MANAGE ANOTHER FEW MORE DAYS OF DRINKING AND FEASTING THROUGH THE NEW YEAR?!

Here’s how.

7 Natural Remedies to Prevent That Festive Hangover

1. Drink Fluids

Water. Coconut water. Green Smoothies.

Alternate each alcoholic cocktail with a non-alcoholic one.

Of course it’s best if you just have water between those drinks, but if you don’t want to have to explain yourself to friends/ family who want to keep plying you with drinks - they don’t have to know that mojito in your hand is actually a virgin mocktail.

After your night out, be sure to rehydrate with water to help reduce that pounding headache the next day!

2. Milk Thistle

Have 200mg of milk thistle before drinking and another 200mg after drinking (as a liquid tincture or powdered capsule 15 minutes before food).

Milk thistle is a herb that’s a powerful antioxidant, which especially benefits the liver. [1]

You want to help your liver deal with all the rich foods and alcohol it’s trying to process.

3. Fennel

Fennel is another powerful herb with anti-carminative properties - which means it’s great for digestion and helps to reduce that bloat, gas, and indigestion. [2]

You can have it as a tea after your big night out.

4. Ginger

Ginger is the herb most people know about and use for indigestion. And while ginger will definitely help relieve some of your digestive issues [2], I’ve found fennel tends to work better/ faster with some people especially with bloating. So try either or both!

Ginger can tend to be stimulating too, so if you’re rehydrating with something at the end of the night, fennel may be the better option.

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5. Aloe Vera Juice

Aloe vera is a plant with loads of soothing, anti-inflammatory properties. [3] It both soothes the gut lining as well as helps to rehydrate after that big night out.

Drink a glass of about 250ml after partying, or to help your hangover the next day.

Pukka makes a good, clean, unsweetened aloe vera juice.

6. Sleep

Allow yourself time to recover! So yup, it’s totally acceptable to ensure you get enough rest to let your body recuperate.

7. Teetotal It

Sorry, hate to state the obvious. But... If you’re not drinking, you won’t get that hangover. ;) There is also a growing movement of people abstaining from alcohol altogether, according to these stats in the UK. So hey, you’d be on trend.

Read some of this helpful advice on how to deal with the social aspects of not drinking. Or some of the benefits this person discovered from not drinking.

Stay safe this holiday season! Got any other tips and tricks you use? Please share in the comments below.

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In the meantime, you might also be interested in these previous blog posts:

REFERENCES:

Abenavoli L, Capasso R, Milic N, et al (2010). Milk thistle in liver diseases: past, present, future. Available: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20564545.
Valussi M. (2012). Functional foods with digestion-enhancing properties. Available: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2201 09 73.
Arshad H.R., Yousef H.A., Sauda S, et al (2015). Aloe vera: Potential candidate in health management via modulation of biological activities. Available: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4 557234/