Hangover Remedies

Some Ways To Ease The Morning After

(CBS)  Millions of Americans will begin the new year with the dreaded hangover.

But there are ways to avoid the holiday ill feeling. If you do drink too much on New Year's Eve, Early Show Medical Correspondent Dr. Emily Senay has some advice on how to ease the pain.

Dr. Senay says the best way to avoid a hangover is to not drink. But that may not really be an option during the holidays when you are constantly being plied with alcoholic beverages.

A hangover is caused by excess alcohol that swells or dilates the blood vessels, which can bring on the headache and sweaty feeling many feel after a big night of drinking.

Some drinks are more likely to give you a hangover than others. Dr. Senay suggests wine drinkers avoid red wine because it has more congeners, which have been proven to worsen headache symptoms.

Congeners are also found in some hard liquors, such as brandy, whiskey and cognac. So your best bet is to stick with vodka. The body has to expend extra energy to break congeners down, so stick to clear drinks with fewer congeners.

Dr. Senay says alcohol drinkers should remember to drink lots of water. This is something that you want to do, before, during and after a night of drinking. Alcohol acts like a diuretic and dries you out — making your headache symptoms worst. Many people find they don't have as bad a headache if they alternate drinking a glass of water and an alcoholic beverage they are consuming.

Remember, it takes an average 150-pound man about an hour to digest the standard drink — a bottle of beer, glass of wine or shot of hard liquor.

Eating greasy foods can also help against the hangover. It's not often that Dr. Senay suggests eating greasy foods because they are not healthy for you. However, if you know you are going to be drinking a lot and don't want to be hung over the next day, try eating some greasy food before you begin drinking. These foods "grease" the lining of your intestines, which slows down the rate at which your body absorbs alcohol.

If you fail to follow the advice to avoid a hangover, try drinking coffee. The caffeine found in coffee and other drinks such as teas and colas can ease the pain of your headache and make it go away quicker. Caffeine acts as a vasoconstrictor, which eases dilated blood vessels.

You can also take an over-the-counter pain reliever before you go to bed and when you wake up to relieve the pain. However, you are going to want to stay away from acetaminophens, which can react adversely when taken with large amounts of alcohol in the system.

Dr. Senay suggests these remedies should help those with a hangover. But she stresses that the remedies don't prevent intoxication.

Also, she says the belief that having a small drink in the morning helps to keep the "buzz" going and avoid the pain of a hangover may work. But, Dr. Senay says, this is not a good idea because you're eventually going to come down from being tipsy.

It's also not a good idea because it could lead to problem drinking.

Again, remember to drink lots of water.