Party Recovery 101

Like most active nightlife people you partied like a rockstar last night and drank endless amounts of alcohol!  Its the morning after and you feel like death! That is the worse!  I have been there many many times and it's hard living the life of a Rockstar, being under the constant peer pressure to drink more, do shots, and be highly active in the nightlife scene.  Anytime there is a special occasion i.e. birthdays, promotions, weddings, etc, partying is involved!

Being a fitness expert and having worked as a Certified Pharmacy Technician for 4 years I have an extensive knowledge of drugs and the effects that they have on the body.  What your average person does the day after they go out partying is they sit in misery hungover and hope that they feel better as the day goes on.  This is fine if you like feeling like death. Me personally, feeling like death is not fun, especially when 6 hours ago you felt invincible and on top of the world!  (Or the bar! LOL!)  It's good to get a little R & R, but why sit in agony the entire day and possibly the next?  Real Rockstars are busy and have things to do, people to see, and places to go.  So we are proactive in mostly or fully recovering from a wild night on the town.  Of course we all will feel like death when we first wake up, but while you are getting your R & R the next day, follow "Mario's Party Recovery" rules and remedies, so that you can have the craziest night, and get up tomorrow looking fierce, fabulous, and ready for round two by the afternoon! 

HANGOVER [hang-oh-ver] 

–noun

1.

the disagreeable physical after effects of drugs, especially alcohol, such as a headache or stomach disorder, usually felt several hours after cessation of drinking.

The common symptoms of a hangover:

nausea, headache, loss of appetite, dry mouth, soreness, weakness,muscle tremors, diarrhea and dizziness

1. Red Bull/Monster/Caffeine etc - Especially if you never drink caffeine, this is highly essential! Drinking some tea, strong black coffee, Pepsi, Mountain Due, or Coca Cola will help you fight that headache. Caffeine will ease the pain of a headache and make you feel more alert. It also gets the heart rate up and the blood pumping essentially pumping all the alcohol (and or other substances and toxins) out of the body which is the first step to recovery. The longer the toxins are in your body. The longer you will feel like bad. So get those toxins out of your body as soon as you can!

2. Bread/Carbs/etc - Depending on how much you partied the night before sometimes you are not ready to eat right away in the morning. Your stomach is in an acidic state after you've drank and this may cause your stomach to be very upset. If you feel like you can not eat, try oatmeal, yogurt, or something kind of soupy or with a soft texture and ease your stomach into eating normal foods. Oatmeal and breads are the best because they help soak up excess alcohol that may still be in your stomach and lessens the impact of a hangover. Try and do breads or oatmeal right away when you wake up. A couple of pieces of Toast with honey or Jelly works great as well! Honey and Jelly contain simple sugars that will help your body process the alcohol faster and move it through your system more efficiently.

3. Protein/Multivitamin/Potassium/Vitamin B Complex - Your muscles have taken a big beating while you were partying it up and dancing erratically on the dance floor or the bar. Try and drink a protein shake or eat something high in protein. Protein is food for your muscles and your body will thank you for it! While you were partying it up you got really dehydrated and your body excreted all of its vitamins including potassium and Vitamin B. With your first meal try and take a multivitamin with your first or second meal, this will help jump start your body to feeling normal again after losing all of your natural vitamins from the night before. (If you are living a healthy lifestyle you should already be taking one every day. I recommend GNC Mega Men and One day Maximum for OTC vitamins) Hospitalized alcoholics are given supplemental vitamin B-1 (thiamine) to replace what they lost during drinking so if you are a regular drinker make it a habit to take vitamin-B complex vitamins everyday. Most of the "B vitamins" are lost when you drink alcohol so replenish them as soon as possible. Drink a glass of orange juice before crashing and as soon as you wake up. Orange juice will replace the potassium you lost during your drinking binge. A low potassium level leads to muscle cramps and muscle discomfort. Get your potassium level back to normal as soon as possible. Orange juice will also help your blood sugar levels. Also, make sure you eat a banana before retiring for the night and when you wake up. Bananas are also packed with potassium and will help alleviate muscle cramps and muscle discomfort.  Also great are the huge vitamin waters especially the "Revive" brands.  I am also a BIG fan of Coconut water!

4. Gatorade/Water/Vitamin Water/Coconut Water Hydration - Gatorade, Water, Gatorade, Water, vitamin water, coconut water, WATER!  I can't stress this enough.  Drink plenty of it!  Your average American does not consume enough of the daily recommended amount of water a day. You lost a lot of water because of the diuretic effects of alcohol. Hydrating yourself is key to any sort of recovery. In order to cure a hangover, you must rehydrate and replenish your body with all the nutrients and electrolytes that you lost during your drinking binge. Gatorade, vitamin water, and coconut water will help replenish some of the lost electrolytes your body needs and also help rehydrate your body from all the water you disposed of because you were in the bathroom every five minutes the night before. Chugging some Gatorade, or even water before you hit the hay will for sure minimize the effects of your hangover. As soon as you wake up start the marathon of drinking water, vitamin water, coconut water, or Gatorade! When you think you have drank enough, drink some more. Your urine should be absolutely crystal clear every time you use the restroom!

5. Greasy Foods - A trip to McDonald's or your local pizza place is just what the doctor ordered to help cure a hangover. Fatty foods like greasy pizza or a nice big burger will grease the lining of your stomach and intestines and the absorption of alcohol into your system will be slower. Even if you normally eat healthy, its okay to splurge on grease for the sake of recovery. Also, chips, pretzels, popcorn, and any other snack food will help absorb any of the alcohol that you drank.

6. Ibuprofen/Aspirin/etc - Taking Ibuprofen or Aspirin (Not Tylenol, Vicodin, or any other pain reliever) will help cover up the effects of a hangover. You really should be proactively working to get the alcohol out of your system (the root problem of the hangover, a hangover is like a mini withdrawal from alcohol), but if you wake up and the hurt and pain is unbearable, take Ibuprofen above all. It's a blood thinner and will minimize the conscious effects of your hangover. You will definitely feel a lot better. And when you feel better make sure to do numbers 1 - 5 on this list!

7. Planning ahead - Some people know that they are going to have a Rockstar night and like to plan ahead. Or they want to get crazy but know they have to work early in the morning have some other type of commitment.  For people like that, I recommend "Chaser". It's the best! Take it twice throughout the night, once with your first drink and once again after like 4 or 5 drinks.   It absorbs all the harmful impurities and toxins in alcohol and helps excrete it out of the body.  You will wake up the next morning feeling like a million bucks.  Or pretty darn close to it!  You can also drink a class of water between every 1 or 2 drinks.

If you have any additional comments or suggestions, please feel free to post them.  Thanks for reading and happy recovery!  :-)

M