"Craving salt may result from being dehydrated," nutritionist Suzanne Dixon, MPH, MS, RDN, told INSIDER. "Alcohol is very dehydrating — it removes more fluid from the body than it supplies in the drink —, and when your body sheds fluids, you can lose electrolytes, including sodium, along with that fluid.)"
A sports drink or a rehydration solution will help restore your hydration levels and replace the sugars and essential salts you may have lost. You can make your own rehydration drink by dissolving six level teaspoons of sugar and half a level teaspoon of salt in one litre of water and sip throughout the day.
Holsworth, sodium helps your body absorb alcohol more quickly. This is because the opening at the bottom of your stomach that leads into your small intestine — called a duodenal sphincter — becomes larger when you consume large amounts of sodium.
According to Men's Health, a study conducted by Purdue University found that the consumption of alcohol enhances the taste of salt, fat, and sugar. This is why those extra salty chicken fingers and fries taste so good — they're loaded with the stuff your body picks up on after a night of drinking.
Experts now say that having too much salt the night before causes many of the symptoms of a hangover. This is because both salt and alcohol leave you very dehydrated. Put simply, dehydration occurs when the body loses more water than it takes in.
No food can erase the effects of a night of drinking alcohol, but the best hangover foods are hydrating and anti-inflammatory. Rest helps, too. Try to avoid greasy foods, sugar, and caffeine which can make your symptoms worse. Instead, stick to water and foods like bananas and crackers.
Carb-heavy foods such as bread, sandwiches, toast, and crackers are some of the best things to eat with a hangover. They're easy for the stomach to digest and offer an immediate source of energy. Carbohydrates are also naturally high in sodium, so they can help replenish your electrolyte levels too.
' What you are feeling are the effects of dehydration and low blood sugar. To bring your blood sugar back up to normal, you really just need to eat anything with some carbs, but balance it out with protein or healthy fats to prevent further blood sugar drops,” she says.
Glycogen is what your body likes to fuel itself off so when you use your glycogen stores to metabolise the alcohol, your body is crying out for more. Hence, your body urges you to replace these stores and makes you hungry.
Does simply adding salt do the trick to replenish electrolytes? The short answer is yes, but there are some considerations to keep in mind.
Sodium doesn't dehydrate you. It hydrates you. Consuming sodium replaces what's lost through sweat, urine, and other bodily fluids. It keeps your bodily fluids properly balanced.
As with alcohol, the main cause of a salt hangover is actually dehydration. Having too much salt in your diet will draw water into circulating volume and increase urination. If you don't combat this water loss as it happens, you'll inevitably become dehydrated fast.
After drinking alcohol, put some salt (I use about half a tablespoon) in a glass of water and drink it. The alkaline salt neutralizes the acid from alcohol.
"When you're hungover, you need to hydrate your body. The way you feel – that headache – it's mostly caused by dehydration. Something like Coca-Cola has lots of sugar and fluids and will put those back into your body to get your energy levels up. The caffeine will also give you an energy boost."
Cold Showers Ease Hangover Symptoms
As uncomfortable as it sounds, taking a cold shower actually has a lot of health benefits. Taking a cold shower, especially after you soak in a warm hot tub will increase your circulation and raise your heart rate. This will also help your body get rid of the toxins from the alcohol.
When Does a Hangover Peak and How Long Does It Last? Hangover symptoms peak when the blood alcohol concentration in the body returns to about zero. The symptoms can last 24 hours or longer.
Eating greasy foods may help slow the absorption of alcohol in the blood.
For example, the liver will be overworking to process alcohol, you'll be tired from little and/or poor quality sleep, you're likely to be urinating more as alcohol is a diuretic, leaving you dehydrated and headache-y – and any post-night out vomiting can irritate the stomach for several days. '
Hangover symptoms tend to ease up over eight to 24 hours. Your body has to clear the toxic byproducts of alcohol, rehydrate, heal tissue and restore functions and activity to normal.
Want to gain an edge over plain old water to treat your hangover? Consider reaching for Gatorade, Pedialyte, Powerade, or a similar nonfizzy sports drink. This recommendation comes courtesy of Kelly Kennedy, RDN, the staff nutritionist at Everyday Health.