Happy Holidays, my friends! It’s December 9th and we are well into the swing of holiday festivities which often include treats and adult beverages. As some of you know, I started out the month with an attempt at Whole30. After Thanksgiving, I felt kind of crappy and unproductive. I wanted a reset so that I could feel and look my best, and also get a lot done this month (my nutrition finals are in January..eek!)
Well, I realized that doing a whole30 in December is…torturous. I’ve made it to day 14 and I think I am going to throw in the towel. While I’ve loved making delicious paleo meals and waking up without a hangover, I have not loved staying in on the weekends and missing out on the holiday fun! For the rest of the month, I am going to continue to cook whole30 meals at home, but allow myself some leeway with the holiday parties. Life is short, right? I’m working on finding my balance.
I love socializing and going to parties, but I absolutely LOATHE waking up the next day with a hangover, missing my workout and setting aside my to-do list for the next day. Fortunately, I realize there is a way to have it all–the social life, the productivity and the body I feel confident in. It starts with mindfulness, nutrients and hydration!
Mindfulness
Obviously, the best way to avoid a hangover is to not drink so much. I find that people my age still binge drink the way we did in college. It can be hard for me to remember to drink mindfully in the moment (e.g. when I’m at a party and people start playing flip cup and next thing you know I’m drunk off my ass) so I find that incorporating a daily mindfulness routine helps me to take preventative measures.
My mindfulness routine includes journaling and intention setting. I love taking some time each day to write down my thoughts. If I know I’m going to be going out that night, I like to write down my intentions for the night and also for the next day. If I write down that I want to work out the next day and do some studying or meal prep, then I’m able to keep that top of mind. Meditation can also be an amazing way to incorporate mindfulness into your routine. I love the app headspace and I’m also a big fan of Tara Brach’s guided meditations.
Nutrients
One of the main reasons alcohol makes us feel so shitty is because it actually depletes us of nutrients. Nutrients like zinc, potassium and magnesium which are so critical in every day bodily functions. If you eat a standard American diet, then you are likely already deficient in these nutrients! Even more so if you take medications, like birth control, which depletes your body of vitamins and minerals. The best way to get nutrients is through eating real food. The morning after drinking, I recommend cooking your own breakfast at home.
Nitrate & sugar free bacon: not only is this delicious, but it’s a great way to restore your body’s sodium levels. FYI, sodium is not bad for you. Sodium is only has negative health effects when it becomes out of balance with potassium. In a standard American diet, most people get more sodium than potassium because of all the processed food. If you eat a real food diet, this will not be a problem. I love the brand Wellshire Farms for bacon. I buy it at Whole Foods.
Pasture-raised eggs: these are way more nutritious than conventional eggs (cage free still doesn’t count) and also way more delicious! Organic greens are an excellent addition to your eggs as they are rich in folic acid, which can reduce hangover effects.
Avocado: a great source of healthy fats, potassium and magnesium. Healthy fats will help bring your blood sugar back to balance after indulging. If you’ve ever woken up starving the morning after drinking, that’s because alcohol (and sugar, which tends to go hand-in-hand with alcohol) spikes your blood sugar, a.k.a it sends signals to your brain that you are starving– even if you ate an entire pizza last night.
You can cook this meal in the bacon grease or use grass-fed butter, ghee, lard, avocado oil or olive oil. Sipping on bone broth is also an amazing way to bring nutrients back into your body and quench your thirst!
Foods to avoid: fried foods cooked in hydrogenated oils (canola oil), refined carbohydrates and sugar. These will continue to deplete your body of nutrients.
Supplements
If you want to take it to the next level, you can supplement the day of and the day after a holiday party. Personally, I’m a big fan of supplements because unfortunately our food is not as nutritious as it once was due to our soil quality. Not all supplements can be trusted though..below I have linked supplements that I approve of (aka they have no nasty additives.)
The day of: take your B vitamins, magnesium, zinc and vitamin C with food before drinking. The day after drinking, I would take these supplements (besides the activated charcoal) on an empty stomach. More info below.
Magnesium: the anti-stress mineral that most people with a hangover are deficient in. This mineral regulates over 800 enzyme actions in the body. It’s best to take this on an empty stomach the next morning, or at least between meals so that your body can absorb it.
B vitamins: ever have inexplicable anxiety the day after drinking? That is likely because your body is depleted of B vitamins. These vitamins play a huge role in mental health as well as many other bodily functions.
Zinc: zinc plays a crucial role in many bodily functions, but most Americans are deficient in it. It is part of alcohol dehydrogenase, which helps the liver detoxify alcohol. I recommend taking the aqueous (liquid) form. In order to absorb the pill form, you need to have enough hydrochloric acid (Hcl) in your stomach. Alcohol lessens your body’s ability to make Hcl, but taking the liquid form is a way to get around this, as this will allow your body to directly absorb it.
Activated charcoal: this should be taken before bed after a night of drinking. Research is still limited on this, but some say that it can help remove the toxins from alcohol. Be aware that activated charcoal should NOT be taken with other medications or supplements because your body may not be able to absorb them.
Milk Thistle: protects the liver cells from toxic damage.
Hydration
Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it makes you pee more and is extremely dehydrating. Because of this, it is critical that you go into any drinking situation already hydrated. Otherwise you are setting yourself up to feel like absolute shit the next day. I wrote a whole post on water consumption, but as a reminder here is the formula that tells us how much water we need to drink per day:
(ounces of diuretics* x 1.5) + (body weight in pounds / 2) = amount of water in ounces that you should be drinking per day
*Diuretics include alcohol, caffeinated beverages (including black tea) juice, sodas, etc.
Besides hydrating beforehand, it’s important to make sure you’re drinking water in between drinks during the night. I aim to drink one water in between each alcoholic beverage. When I get home, I like to drink more water before and of course leave water by my bedside for the next morning.
One thing to note: the supplements I recommended earlier are best absorbed by the body when the stomach is more acidic a.k.a when it’s empty. This is just an educated guess, but I think it would make the most sense to drink a lot of water before bed and take your supplements on an empty stomach the next morning. If you don’t hydrate before bed, wake up thirsty as a mofo and try to chug water with your supplements, the water will dilute the acidic juices in your stomach and you may not absorb your- very expensive-supplements. Sipping is okay, but try to drink most of your water 30 minutes before or after supplementation and meals.
Don’t end up like Spongebob this holiday season. Eat real food, stay hydrated, practice mindfulness and supplement when necessary. Do you guys have any other hangover tips?! Please let me know! As always, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
xx
Carla