Nearly everyone has been there – you wake up with a dry mouth, raging headache and upset stomach after a late night of drinking.
A nasty hangover can have you in bed suffering all day long, and while there are plenty of at-home remedies touted to cure a hangover, advice to drink pickle juice and eat greasy foods isn’t going to make you feel any better.
But now, Cara Shaw, a registered women’s health nutritional therapist, has revealed the exact breakfast you should whip up in order to cure your hangover.
She told Metro a post-night out breakfast needs to serve two purposes: get your blood sugar back up to normal levels and support your liver, which is working hard to process and break down the alcohol.
And the perfect solution is a cheap, easy Omelette.
Drinking too much alcohol can lead to a hangover the next day, which may result in nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness and diarrhea
This is exactly how long it takes for your body to return to normal after a full weekend of drinking
Ms Shaw said: ‘If you’ve been boozing all day long, particularly on lots of beer or high sugar cocktails or sugary mixers, it’s likely that your blood sugar will be going haywire into the early hours.
‘In order to support your blood sugar first thing, eat breakfast within 90 minutes of waking, but be sure to opt for a high protein option.
‘When it comes to the liver, the alcohol will be putting a lot of pressure on the liver so detoxification will need additional support. You can get this from adequate protein but also B vitamins and antioxidants.’
The best recipe you can make includes three eggs, half a cup of sautéed mushrooms, half an avocado, a pinch of feta cheese, a handful of cooked tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil.
Each ingredient is important because each provides its own benefits.
Eggs are a good source of protein and choline, a nutrient that helps with liver detoxification, muscle control and mood. Mushrooms are a good source of B vitamins, which help with digestion, energy levels, mood and liver function.
Avocados are a source of healthy fats and are rich in potassium, which decreases blood pressure and water retention, and vitamin E, which plays a role in numerous bodily functions thanks to its antioxidant activities, including immune health and toxin elimination.
Feta cheese packs more protein into your breakfast and contains vitamin B12 to boost energy after a late night.
Cooked tomatoes also provide antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties and olive oil has polyphenols and anti-inflammatory properties to help reduce the stress excessive alcohol can have on the body.
This breakfast should be paired with plenty of water to combat the dehydration that comes from drinking alcohol.
Ms Shaw also recommended you swap your cup of coffee for a cup of matcha because it is lower in caffeine and packed with antioxidants to ‘give the body a boost.’
However, she advises waiting to have your beverage until after you’ve filled up on your breakfast to avoid spiking levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, in the body.
Alcohol causes the symptoms of a hangover for several reasons: it makes you urinate more, leading to dehydration, it triggers an inflammatory response from the immune system, causing inability to concentrate and memory problems; it irritates the lining of the stomach, leading to nausea and vomiting; it causes blood sugar to fall, which results in fatigue, weakness and shaking; it disrupts sleep and leads to fatigue; and it causes blood vessels to expand, which leads to headaches.
Alcohol also impacts the central nervous system, which becomes depressed when liquor enters the body. It binds to neurotransmitters that inhibit communication and slow brain activity, resulting in poor balance, speech issues and poor thinking.
While eating the right foods and hydrating can ease the pain of a nasty hangover, experts have told DailyMail.com the body doesn’t return to normal after just one day of rest. It could take up to two days after drinking to feel 100 percent again.
Dr Hussain Ahmad, consultant doctor at Click2Pharmacy in the UK, told DailyMail.com if you have just one drink, the body processes it within two to three hours.
He said: ‘However, multiple alcoholic drinks slow how quickly your body can metabolize and pass it, and it can take up to 12 hours to completely leave your [bloodstream].’
But even after it leaves the bloodstream, it travels to other bodily systems, which can take days to expel the toxin.
Once alcohol leaves the bloodstream, blood vessels – which constrict when you get drunk – return to their normal size.
‘Once the liver has filtered alcohol from the blood, it can start to return to its other functions,’ Rachael Richardson, dietitian and founder of Nutrolution, previously told DailyMail.com. This includes digestion and metabolizing vitamins and minerals.
Alcohol will still remain in your body, as it travels from the bloodstream to the digestive system and a hangover will begin to set in about 12 hours after consumption.
