How to cure your New Year’s Day Hangover

Hangovers take a lot of the fun out of a night out.

We're going to rip the plaster off quickly here - there is no 'cure' for a hangover, you will most likely be stuck with a sore head if you've drunk too much the night before.

However, there is some good advice for best practices on how to minimise the discomfort.

And we're here to provide that.

1. Don't drink too much.

We're assuming this has been and gone at the stage you're reading this, but if possible always check yourself to make sure you're not putting in more alcohol than your body can handle.

This is always the best prevention.

2. Eat a meal before

Carbs are your friends here. The food will help slow down the body's absorption of alcohol.

The NHS recommends pasta or rice, or fatty foods.

3. Stay hydrated

Listen to your friends at the NHS here:

Drink a pint or so of water before you go to sleep.

Keep a glass of water by the bed to sip if you wake up during the night. 

This rule continues into the morning:

Dealing with a hangover involves rehydrating the body to help it deal with the painful symptoms.

The best time to rehydrate is before going to sleep after a drinking session.

4. Do not partake in the 'hair of the dog'

The old adage is the 'hair of the dog that bit you'; ie. the healing properties of the thing that got you ill in the first place. It didn't work for rabies in the 180s and it doesn't work now.

Drinking more alcohol will not solve the problem of having drunk too much alcohol.

You are simply delaying the appearance of symptoms until the next bout of alcohol wears off.

You need to give your body time to recover.

5. Bouillon soup

The NHS specifically recommends this as a nutritious source of vitamins and minerals to top up the depleted resources after a drinking session.

It's also easy on a fragile stomach.

6. Visit a hangover clinic

It's not a miracle cure, and it's incredibly expensive.

But if you have money to burn to the tune of £200 (or your hangover really is that bad), book in a session with an IV drip.

With an anti-inflammatory, rehydration medication and vitamins to eliminate your headache, it's a solution.

But, as Jonathan Chick, professor of health sciences at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh told the Daily Mail, he saw:

No benefit other than rehydration, and the feeling that comes when someone gives you care in a sympathetic style in a comfortable setting.

If that's what you need, though, have no shame in that.