Well you may be enjoying the expat life in Spain, but reaching for the nearest bottle of Fernet Branca isn´t the wisest of choices!

Throughout the ages, partygoers all over the world have devised their own, personal miracle cures.  Some have since been medically proven, while others seriously should be relegated to the basura....

• In Poland a common cure for a hangover is to drink a glass of the liquid from a jar of pickles or sauerkraut.
• In Turkey a favourite is a bowl of tripe soup cooked with garlic and cream.
• The ancient Romans swore by deep fried canaries, simply topped with salt and pepper.
• The Mongolians prefer pickled sheep´s eyeballs in tomato juice.
• The Germans resort to rollmops (pickled herrings), or if that doesn´t work, good old sausage and beer!

If all this seems a bit hard to swallow, there are some simple steps you can take to limit the damage:

• It may seem obvious, but eating before you party will certainly help.  Lining your stomach with a sensible meal will help prevent the alcohol from irritating your stomach.  Even a glass of milk will help to repel the alcohol.


• Take it easy!  Try to drink slowly and drink non alcoholic drinks in between.  Beware though, that fizzy drinks are not best, as they speed up absorption of alcohol into the blood.


• It may be hard to do here in Spain, but try to avoid dark coloured drinks such as red wine and brandy as they have contents which tend to give a worse hangover.


• Drink plenty of water before you go to bed to help prevent dehydration.

If you still wake up like a bear with a sore head, you are probably dehydrated.  While your body is doing its best to rid you of all the toxins you have ingested, try to avoid caffeine filled products such as tea, coffee or cola as these will all cause you to be more dehydrated.  Drinking more water will obviously help as will fruit juice as it will give you a much needed vitamin boost.  Try not to take painkillers as your organs will already be working hard to on the detox process. Instead, a glass of hot water with a slice or two of locally grown fresh lemon will be refreshing and will also help with your general malaise.

As far as food is concerned, a fatty fry-up may be the trusted solution, however large amounts of fatty foods may irritate your stomach further and as we all know, are not part of the life-giving Mediterranean diet.  Eggs alone are very good as they help to break down certain toxins and a simple banana has so many minerals that it may sort you out on its own, or whizzed up in some milk to make a nutritious smoothy.

As a final word, we hope you enjoy this holiday season without too many fuzzy mornings.  At the time of writing, the team here has thoroughly tested all the above solutions!

Wishing you all the best for 2012 ;)

HealthPlanSpain

28/12/11