How to Cure Wine Hangover?

You cannot put a smile on your face with a bad hangover. It is one of the few things a drinker swears off not to have liquor again— at least until the next occasion.

The worst after-party situation to deal with is the splitting headache, fatigue, nausea, and stomach pain after enjoying the night overindulging your favorite wine. You end up asking yourself how to cure a wine hangover in just a matter of minutes.

Could there be an immediate cure? Let’s find out.

What is Wine Hangover?

Drinking a few glasses of wine causes a splitting headache the following day; that’s a hangover. A wine hangover is a consequence of drinking too much wine. The consequence comes with unpleasant physical and mental symptoms.

There is no worry about having a hangover. It is common for people who consume too much wine or alcohol. Wine hangovers can last about a day.

Wine hangovers start several hours after you stop drinking or wake up after a night out overdrinking. The symptoms and intensity may vary from person to person, and they may feel one or all at once.

How to Deal with Wine Hangover

There is no cure for the harsh wine hangover you have right now, but there are ways to deal with it. Like any hangover, the symptoms will last around a day— which would be a dreadful 24 hours.

Fast cures you see on the Internet could do more harm than good.  Some would advise taking pain reliever medications to cure your hangover. Although this medication can help reduce the throbbing headache and body malaise, it might harm your liver, especially when dealing with high alcohol concentrations.

Hence, it is safer to do these instead:

Rehydrate

Some might say drinking coffee keeps the headache and fatigue at bay. However, coffee is also a diuretic, causing your mild dehydration to intensify.

Hence, only drink water to rehydrate. Meanwhile, others tell you to drink beer in the morning, the “hair of the dog” myth; this only prolongs or worsens the symptoms.

Hence, when you rehydrate, only drink water or juice to replenish the lost electrolytes. If you feel nauseous and cannot bring yourself to drink, you can suck a cube of ice or a popsicle. Set a phone alarm every hour to help you drink 6 to 8 glasses of water.

Sleep more

A much-needed rest to let the hangover slip away is the best way to deal with it. Although when you have a hangover, you experience sleep disturbances, it is hard to stay asleep. Even so, get more sleep to counteract the fatigue and malaise you feel.

Go for an exercise

You might feel fatigued after drinking heavily last night, but if you want to reduce the time you will feel the wine hangover, it is best to go for some cardio. It helps your blood flow, boost your metabolism, and process and eliminate the alcohol and toxins from your body faster.

Take a cool shower

A cool shower will keep you awake and take off all the embarrassment from last night. The shower does not help rehydrate but helps you become alert and feel fresh.

Take antacid

Stomach upset or irritation is common in hangovers. Before you eat, take an antacid to help your stomach and gastric juices settle. Surprising your stomach with food only triggers your acid reflux and makes you vomit and be more nauseous.

Eat your favorite hot soup. Avoid greasy food

Eating your hot soup can lessen the stomach upset you are feeling. But, any food you like to eat is sufficient to stabilize your sugar and avoid further irritating your stomach. Do not eat greasy food.

Meanwhile, if you have inflammation from the alcohol, prepare a herbal tea and place a cinnamon stick. Cinnamon helps reduce inflammation because of its high levels of condensed tannin.

Do hangovers need emergency care?

Hangovers can sometimes feel like you are about to die. However, there are some health signs that you have to be worried about. If you or you are with someone who is manifesting the following signs, call emergency care:

• Irregular slow breaths, below 8 breaths per minute and 10 seconds gap between breaths.
• Hypothermia, cold to touch.
• Unconscious, or having trouble staying conscious
• Seizures
• Pale or bluish skin

It gets to a point when you want to enjoy the company of your favorite wine but hesitate because you are afraid to deal with hangovers.

How to Prevent Wine Hangovers

The number one prevention of experiencing a wine hangover is not to drink. But if the urge to drink wins, you have to do these to prevent a killer hangover.

• Drink with a full stomach. You can slow alcohol absorption if you drink with a full stomach. You will not have an upset or irritated stomach.
• Stay hydrated throughout. Dehydration is the number hangover symptom. Avoid it by drinking water as soon as you can. You can even take sips while you have your wine.
• Drink less and slow. Cutting back and drinking slowly helps your body process and eliminate the alcohol. It prevents racking up your blood alcohol concentration.

However, if you have signs of alcohol disorder or dependence, it is time to cut back on your wine consumption. Frequent heavy drinking and hangovers may affect your quality of life. When this happens, talk to your healthcare provider.

Wine Hangover Symptoms

Regret could be the first symptom of a wine hangover. Kidding aside. There are physical symptoms that you experience when having a wine hangover, this includes:

• Stomach upset
• Nausea
• Dizziness
• Thirsty
• Sensitivity to light and sound
• Fatigue and body malaise
• Disturbed sleep, or unable to sleep

Meanwhile, mental symptoms can also be possible, such as:

• Irritability
• Depression
• Anxiety

Others may also experience concentration, coordination, and memory problems when having a hangover. A wine hangover is no different from getting drunk from other alcohol; the symptoms are pretty much alike, but wine hangovers have more intense ones.

Generally, the intensity and severity of these symptoms depend on the person. Some experience a hangover after one drink, while others who drink heavily do not experience any hangover. However, your health condition and how much wine you drank may play a role in having a hangover.

What other causes could lead to a wine hangover?

Causes of Wine Hangovers

The answer is simple: over-drinking wine. Wine has a higher alcohol level content, which affects our mind and body in several ways.

Mild dehydration and electrolyte imbalance

When alcohol is in our bodies, the brain fails to command our kidneys to retain fluids. That’s why we keep urinating when we are drinking. As urination increases and fluid loss becomes excessive, the result is mild dehydration, which results in thirst, headache, and fatigue.

In addition, overdrinking can lead to electrolyte imbalance. When the alcohol irritates the stomach lining and increases acid release, it results in nausea, stomach discomfort, and vomiting. Excessive vomiting and urinating in large amounts can result in electrolyte imbalance.

Sleep disruption

Some treat alcohol as a sedative to make them feel sleepy. However, the hangover symptoms can interfere with your sleep. Alcohol affects body temperature regulation and hormone production. Hence, insomnia; when the blood alcohol lowers, you feel fatigued.

Moreover, other possible factors cause wine hangovers:

• Smoking: Some drink wine while smoking cigarettes or marijuana; this may lead to more intoxicating effects rather than only consuming wine. It may affect the severity of the hangover.
• Congeners: Wine contains congener, a compound significant for the smell, taste, and appearance of wines. Researchers claim that congener contributes to the intoxicating effects and severity of the hangover.
• Personal differences: A study has shown that a person’s emotions or mental state can increase the risk of a hangover. Moreover, if you have a family history of disorders related to alcohol, you have a high chance of developing it and may experience more hangovers.

Which wine causes the worst hangover?

Red wines, especially full-bodied red wines, come first when talking about which wine is the culprit for the worst hangover. Full-bodied red wines have more than 13.5% alcohol content, and you can find high tannin and acetaldehyde, which, when in high amounts in our body, results in hangover symptoms.

Moreover, studies show that red wines with darker colors give you a higher chance of a bad hangover.

Next to red wine is champagne. Champagne is a bubbly drink because of its carbon dioxide content. Excessively taking champagne means more carbon intake; carbonation pumps the alcohol into your bloodstream, making you drunk easily.

Hence, go for white wines to enjoy sipping wine and not worry about hangovers. It lessens the chance of waking up feeling like you have been hit by a truck.

Final Takeaway

Hanging out with wine is fun, not until you over-drink and have a wine hangover the next day. If you have over-indulged, remember how to deal with the harsh hangover symptoms.

Yet, if you know there is a great chance you will have a happy time drinking, it is nicer to take preventive measures than to cure a wine hangover.