Avoid a hangover this Christmas

But there are ways to enjoy the pleasurable side of drinking without these downsides.

Drink Organic

Firstly, there’s a lot of other ingredients in alcoholic drinks that many people unknowingly react to from yeasts to sulphites. Drinking organic and/or sulphite or yeast-free drinks is a growing trend.

Make Sure You Eat Before

Alcohol’s gut unfriendly effects are, to some extent mitigated by not drinking on an empty stomach. Food will slow down the rate at which you absorb any alcohol and protect your gut lining from irritation. This could be something as simple as some peanuts with your pint or olives with your glass of wine. Even better is to eat a meal that combines proteinProteins are large molecules consisting of chains of amino acids. Proteins are essential nutrients for the human body – they are a building block of… and slow-releasing carbohydrateCarbohydrates are the primary source of energy for the body as they can be broken down into glucose (sugar) more readily than either protein or… – for example, fish/rice meat/potatoes with vegetables – ideally ‘cruciferous veg such as broccoli and kale which actually help alcohol detoxification in the liver.

Get Glutamine

But what really protects the gut (and is destroyed by alcohol) is the amino acid glutamine.

Having a teaspoon (5 grams) of glutamine powder in a glass of water before you go to sleep makes a big difference. Glutamine directly nourishes and helps protect gut mucosal cells.

Theracurmin for Detoxification

During the liver’s detoxification of alcohol a toxin called acetaldehyde is created, which is what gives you many of the classic symptoms of a hangover. One measurable effect of curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric is its ability to detoxify alcohol. In a study giving people a measured amount of alcohol, after which they either drank mineral water or were given a modest dose of Theracurmin (a water soluble form of curcumin). The supplement cut the level of acetaldehyde by about a third, compared to drinking mineral water. I would recommend both –curcumin and drinking water. Double the dose and you could reasonably expect to half acetyldehyde levels and hangover symptoms. What’s more, curcumin has recently been shown to protect the liver and reduce the risk of fatty liver disease.

Dose up on B Vitamins, Vitamin C and Zinc

Alcohol also depletes B vitamins and vitamin CWhat it does: Strengthens immune system – fights infections. Makes collagen, keeping bones, skin and joints firm and strong. Antioxidant, detoxifying pollutants and protecting against… which is vital for reducing alcohol-induced oxidative stress in your liver. An animal study showed that vitamin C was more protective to the liver after alcohol exposure than silymarin (milk thistle), another support nutrient which improves liver function.

Zinc is also essential for the activity of the main enzyme that detoxifies alcohol, called alcohol dehydrogenase, hence reducing acetaldehyde production and, consequently, likely to reduce hangover symptoms.

Glutathione for Detoxification

Detoxification of alcohol is also dependent on glutathione, or its precursor N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC). Both have been shown to improve the ability to detoxify alcohol and alcohol induces significant liver damage if the liver runs out of available glutathione. In fact, in cases of liver failure, NAC is given to ‘reload’ the liver’s ability to detoxify. Alcohol is detoxified by the same process as paracetamol so the combination of both really taxes the liver and is best avoided. B vitamins also help because another liver detoxification pathway involves methylationMethylation is what occurs when the body takes one substance and turns it into another, so that it can be detoxified and excreted from the….

A good multivitamin and antioxidant supplement containing either glutathione or NAC therefore provide a background of healthy liver detoxification potential.

What I Take

If I’ve drunk a fair amount I have all three:

• 2 grams of vitamin C with zincWhat it does: Component of over 200 enzymes in the body, essential for growth, important for healing, controls hormones, aids ability to cope with stress…
• one teaspoon of glutamine powder in water
• three curcumin extract supplements
• plus I take a glass of water to bed to drink when I wake up, in order to keep myself hydrated.

You will be amazed at how different you feel the next day! Of course, drinking too much is not a good idea but you might as well recover quickly when you do.