Top Tips to Avoid Hangovers

Not drinking at all is no solution to avoiding hangovers. A recent study finds that there are some useful tips you can follow so that you can still enjoy alcohol but not suffer from its aftermath.

Hangovers primarily occur due to a number of reasons. First, alcohol is a diuretic which means it triggers the production of urine and causes dehydration. As a result, it leads to the most common symptoms like headache, dry mouth and throat, dizziness, irritability and reduced concentration. Alcohol also irritates the stomach and disrupts sleep, thus, causing nausea and exhaustion the day after. The good news though is that, hangovers can be avoided.

By avoiding 'darker' drinks, you can free yourself from hangovers. A study at the University of Surrey in 2001 found volunteers given two glasses of fizzy champagne had an average of 0.54 milligrams of alcohol per milliliter of blood after just five minutes. Dr. Emma Derbyshire, a senior lecturer in nutrition at Manchester Metropolitan University and independent adviser to the Natural Hydration Council said: "Certain alcohols contain chemicals called congerners that give them their flavors and colors. The darker the alcohol the higher the congener content."

The myth that mixing drinks worsens hangovers was also found to be untrue. "The idea behind this is probably that the greater variety of drinks you have, the more likely you are to take in different impurities and a higher number of congeners," says Dr. Sarah Jarvis, a GP and medical adviser to the charity Drinkaware. However, sticking to the same drink does not mean you will escape headaches in the morning. It all depends on how much you drink and how many impurities that particular drink contains.