5 Foods To Eat After Heavy Drinking

June 17, 2009 6:55 PM
by Salvatore Fazio

Physiologists like Moorhead, Carlson and Scott have tried to explore the effects alcohol consumption has on hunger since the early 1900’s. According to the British Journal of Nutrition “Studies to date are consistent with alcohol having a short-term stimulatory effect on appetite.”

Combine this scientifically proven after-party appetite to severe judgment impairment, and you get two-week old Chinese food leftovers at four o’clock in the morning, and its subsequent trip to the hospital.

Because we care about our readers, we’ve compiled a list of foods you should eat after a night of heavy drinking. We know some of you need this kind of guidance.

Let’s go over the basics. Because alcohol is a diuretic, it dehydrates you. It is important to keep hydrated and drink at least two glasses of water before you start drinking alcohol, and drink at least one glass of water in between alcoholic beverages. You should also remember that time is the best cure for drunkenness. Give your body enough time to detoxify and make sure you sleep off your intoxication fully before righting your wrongs in the morning or whenever else you wake up.

On to the food…

Honey

Honey is an excellent source of fructose, which assists the body in metabolizing the alcohol and fight its effects on the body. So spread it on some toast, or eat it straight from the spoon with some ginger. This stuff works miracles.

Bananas

Bananas are a nice low-calorie and high-fructose solution to your unrestrained drinking incident. As you down shots and bounce around in the club, your body loses a lot more than just water. Drinking alcohol depletes your body’s potassium, which helps maintain your body’s pH and water levels. Because bananas are a natural anti-acid, they help counter the amount of stomach acid the body uses to try to digest alcohol. Bananas also contain magnesium to relax your blood vessels and vitamin B6 to help your nervous and immune system deal with morning headaches and confusion.

A smoothie made with honey and banana is an excellent option to settle your stomach, build up your blood sugar levels, replenish lost minerals and break down alcohol. But truth be told, we don’t advise operating a blender while under the influence. We just don’t trust you like that.

American Breakfast

Just how much better scrambled eggs, omelets, biscuits English muffins, sausages and bacon taste after a night of uninterrupted drinking is something too difficult to put in writing. Therefore whether you start or end your day with classic breakfast foodstuff, know that it contains a helpful mix of carbohydrates, fats and protein to get your body working on getting rid of that alcohol that is still sitting in your belly. Contraire to popular belief, caffeine is not good after alcohol consumption simply because it too dehydrates your body. So forget about the cup of Joe and replace it with a nice glass of water or orange juice. The vitamin C will help the liver break down alcohol and give you a boost in energy.

Kebabs

It’s love or hate with the Kebab. Party people who love the kebab, however, will leave a party spot and wonder around for hours in search of this Turkish culinary delight. When you exit the club or bar, openly declare that you are going to go eat kebabs and invite some of the random people whom you’ve spent half of the night slapping sloppy high-fives to. Kebabs are actually somewhat beneficial to your alcohol-satiated body: The meat from the kebab will replenish your body’s protein, which in turn will help you slow down alcohol absorption, and it’s slowly digestible fat will protect the stomach from irritating effects of alcohol. Feel safe to close your night with a hot and juicy kebab, but beware of red onions and bell peppers at 4 am; they are nearly impossible to digest.

Pizza

Legend has it that in 1889 Raffaele Esposito, one of Naples’ best pizza makers, was commissioned to bake pizzas for the King of Italy Umberto I of Savoia and his wife Queen Margherita. Inspired by the colors of the Italian flag, Esposito used tomato, mozzarella and basil in a pizza for the very first time. Over two centuries later, his beloved creation is the undisputed after-last-call aliment of choice for party people everywhere. The olive oil and the cheese in the pizza grease the lining of your digestive track to slow alcohol absorption while the dough supplies amino acids and at the same time helps to even out some of the gastric acid build up in your tummy. From the queen of Italy to the mouths of countless party people, pizza makes our list as the top food to eat after a night of heavy drinking.

There you have it. These foods, taken with lots of liquids like sport drinks, fruit juices and most importantly water will spare you some morning recovery time. You can use that time to call your friends and ask at what point in the night you decided to get that tattoo of your ex’s name.