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Hangover Prevention and Liver Detox
By Linda | December 30, 2008
Champagne and revelry seem to be an integral part of New Year’s celebrations. In excess, of course, alcohol impairs the body, and most notably the liver. It doesn’t help your brain either. You may know the effects: headache, stomachache, jet lag-style fatigue, nausea and the gnawing feeling you did something stupid. The following are some tips to get you through this holiday with revelry yet minimum organ damage.
- Don’t drink and drive. All the broccoli in the world won’t save you from a car crash. This New Year’s Eve (6pm to 6am) AAA is offering a free “Tipsy Tow” for anyone too drunk to drive.
- Don’t take drugs. Your liver has enough to deal with when you drink alcohol. ALL medications, including aspirin, head straight for your liver. If you must take medications, skip the booze.
- Imbibe a glass of room temp water every hour or so during, before and after party hours.
- Eat a savory food before you drink. How about some goat cheese?
- Set an intention. You know your limit. The official recommended limit on alcohol for women is one glass and for men two. If you get clear on your intentions before you begin, it is easier to stop. This works for dessert too.
- Take liver-detox herbs. Brew a strong tea or take an herb tincture with milk thistle, dandelion root, Oregon grape root, artichoke leaf, turmeric and/or burdock root. Take three times a day and just before the first drink.
- Take liver detoxing supplements before drinking: R or Alpha lipoic acid, magnesium, B vitamins, calcium-D-glucarate and N-acetyl cysteine.
- Eat high-quality meat and other protein. Protein helps your liver detox. Consider grass fed beef stew, leg of lamb; roasted free-range poultry, an omelete, or smoked or wild salmon.
- Eat broccoli. Broccoli family veggies, including cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, rapini and broccoli stimulate the P450 cytochrome detox pathway in the liver.
- Eat sulfur-rich foods (unless you have an impaired sulfoxidation). Sulfur from eggs, broccoli veggies, garlic and onions helps detox your liver. If you react to sulfur, try taking molybdmum and skip these foods.
- Focus on something more meaningful than alcohol and sugar. Not sure where to start? Identify what you are grateful for; do something for someone in need; call a friend; journal your thoughts; take a trip to the beach; take a bike ride.
- Feel addicted? One of the best tools I have found for releasing cravings for sugar and alcohol is an energy medicine technique called TAT.
Topics: Cravings, Drugs, Mood, Uncategorized |
December 30th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Thx Linda - You’re always full of wonderful info to save the day! …… or night! Happy 2009 to you! I hope it brings you a new year full of peace, love, health, happiness, sunshine, rainbows & everything that makes you smile! - Nancy Rae
December 30th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Linda-you are truly a lifesaver!!!! Now, would you suggest following these ‘detox tips’ for the day after, after eating too much party food, etc???
What I find helps during these times is water, water, water–before and after having an alcoholic beverage….. and staying away from sugary foods.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:16 am
Thank you Nancy Rae. Glad I can help.
And Andria, YES, I recommend all these steps to help your body cope with overindulgence in party food or spirits. Water is a biggie!
A Happy, Healthy, Peaceful New Year to All of YOU!
June 25th, 2009 at 7:45 am
when detoxifying the body, i find it much better to use natural products rather than those synthetic detox products. that is why i always go after the natural detox way.
July 6th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
exercise and sweating also helps eliminates toxins out of the body. aside from taking regular detox diets you should also add exercise to your detox routines.
December 15th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
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