Most of us will agree that hangovers are no fun. As we wallow in our seemingly endless abyss of hangoverdom we begin to use whatever mind power we can muster up towards discovering the ultimate way to cure the hangovers and end them for good. The good thing about all of this is that it is possible. But, in order to know how to prevent them, you have to know what causes them.



First thing that needs to be observed is dehydration. Alcohol dehydrates your body in a way which causes you to have a major loss of water throughout your entire body. This massive loss in water, through constant urination, ultimately assists in causing the headaches, dizziness and thirst you experience. So drink plenty of water when you are out. You will need it.

Second, drinking too much alcohol too fast, or binge drinking, is a major cause as well. When you put down that much alcohol in a short period of time, your body does not have enough time to supply enough substances to break down the alcohol completely which allows toxins to proceed through your body. Also, when people drink too much they tend to mix drinks as well...maybe you just don't REMEMBER doing it?

Third, mixing drinks can easily cause hangovers due to mixing carbonated beverages such as light beers with hard liquor which takes a longer time to break down. The carbonation speeds up the metabolism in your body. Imagine a salad versus a steak. The steak being the hard liquor. Which do you think will digest the quickest? Another contributor to mixing drinks and getting hangovers would be mixing drinks with more congeners, or by-products of fermentation that exaggerates hangovers.

Congeners can be a terrible force in hangoverdom and they can be found not only in red wines and dark liquors such as brandy, bourbon and whiskey, congeners are also present as additives for flavor, such as zinc.

Drinking on an empty stomach is always a great way to get a hangover as there is nothing in your stomach to 'dilute' the alcohol in there. It is important to eat foods such as dairy products, or fatty foods (such as dishes with lots of olive oil) which tend to 'stick to the stomach' longer. This lingering in the stomach will also provide a barrier between the alcohol and your stomach lining which will, in response, lessen the nausea often experienced with less in your tummy. Do try to put something substantial in there before drinking.

Vitamin B12 is another thing that should be mentioned as it becomes deficient as the human body processes alcohol. The liver is doing an amazing job at processing the alcohol and, unfortunately, it DOES require fuel. Now the 'fuels' are a large combination of enzymes and substances in the body, but vitamin B12 is just a part of the whole process and when we drink and it lessened, we get the sleepiness and grogginess related to hangovers. Many savvy drinkers enjoy a little vitamin B12 supplement which oftentimes does the trick. I also recommend anti-hangover supplements such as Chasers. They are amazing. Find out more at The Hangover Network ( at http://www.HangoverNetwork.com ).

One more cause I would like to mention here (there are more causes, visit the site for more information) is the by-product of alcohol fermentation produced by the liver called acetaldehyde. This stuff is nasty. If it does not break down enough, it will make you ill. It is even more toxic than alcohol. However, our bodies HAVE enzymes and substances that attack this substance and turn it into something else called acetate which is non-toxic. Whew! There are, in fact, drugs out there for recovering alcoholics that stop the acetaldehyde attackers from doing their job resulting in a brutal, too terrible to mention here, kinds of hangovers you never want to have.

All of the information here is a basic summary and I recommend a visit to HangoverNetwork.com for more info. However, one thing I would like to mention is that not all people's tolerance and substances are the same. Many people do not have high levels of enzymes which break down acetaldehyde and such and have lower tolerances. So remember to pace yourself because only you know your body the best. Do practice caution and have a great time!