Chances are good your boss or manager knows you’re not really sick the Monday after the big championship game.
For many Americans, Super Bowl Sunday is a big night for parties — and sometimes drinking a little too much.
Data provided by Nielsen indicates that Americans have spent some $1.2 billion on beer in the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl in prior years.
That means the morning after — known as National Football Hangover Day for a reason — can be fraught with headaches, nausea and irritability.
It’s never fun going to work the next day (or joining a Zoom meeting on camera) with a monster hangover.
It may be a popular day to stay home and recover (or hide from those meetings) — but it’s probably a far better idea to avoid that or at least do what you can to manage the symptoms.
The best way to avoid a hangover might be obvious — but is straightforward: Don’t drink.
Here are a few tips to make your Monday morning easier.
- Drink water or liquids
- Fill your stomach up the next day
- Take your vitamins
- Allow your body time to process the alcohol
- Get enough sleep.
1. Drink water or liquids
A good rule of thumb is to drink a glass of water between every alcoholic beverage, as Fox News Digital has previously reported.
Also, drinking electrolyte-rich drinks can be helpful as well.
2. Fill up your stomach
While there’s no cure for a hangover, some food can be a big help with the effects the day after.
Eggs contain an amino acid called cysteine that can break down acetaldehyde, a byproduct of your liver’s breakdown of ethanol.
Eggs are also high in B vitamins, which studies have previously shown can help with the symptoms.
Bananas, meanwhile, can help bring your potassium levels back up to normal.
3. Take your vitamins
People with lowered levels of vitamin B23 and zinc suffered more severe hangovers, as a recent study from the Netherlands’ Utrecht University revealed.
These two substances are commonly found in meat — suggesting that Super Bowl Sunday may not be the best time to try going vegan.
4. Allow your body time to process the alcohol
A common myth is that you need to drink more alcohol the next morning, or later in the evening, to decrease the effects of alcohol.
However, after following the prior steps, individuals should allow their bodies to process the alcohol by cutting themselves off short earlier in the night.
“Depending on your weight and other factors, it takes about one hour for a healthy liver to process a unit of alcohol,” Dr. Zoe Williams told South West News Service. “Consider stopping drinking well before the end of the evening, so the process can begin before you go to bed.”
5. Get plenty of sleep
During a hangover, fatigue will be a major and persistent symptom that will be hard to shake off the next day unless you get plenty of sleep.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that an adult should receive at least seven or more hours of sleep per night.