Plan to have a hard party tonight? We got your back, and it's natural

Today, many of us live by the mantra ‘work hard, party harder’. Granted, it’s not a healthy approach to life, but for a large segment of the population it is the only way to hang on to one’s sanity. The anticipation of weekend partying is what keeps many going, when work pressure and stress is unrelenting through the week. Of course, hard partying doesn’t come without a price tag – hard partying is synonymous with heavy drinking and this can have a range of ill effects in the short and long term. The first thing that comes to mind is that dreaded hangover the night after your party. Fortunately, it’s no longer inevitable. We have a natural hangover cure that can lower the risk of a hangover and improve recovery, but before we get to the cure, it’s important to understand how hangovers work.

How Alcohol Causes Hangovers

Everyone has a different capacity or tolerance for alcohol, but almost everyone who parties hard has crossed that threshold at some point or perhaps even every weekend! The most obvious explanation for those annoying hangover symptoms – the headache, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, sweating, thirst, and sleepiness, is dehydration. After all, alcohol works like a diuretic that increases urine output. At the same time, when you’re partying, you’re less likely to drink much water. However, dehydration only accounts for some hangover symptoms, but isn’t responsible for the entire phenomenon. 

Hangovers most likely surface due to the buildup of acetaldehyde, a byproduct of alcohol. This compound has high toxicity, which is in fact 10 to 30 times higher than that of alcohol itself. While alcohol itself flushes out of your system quite rapidly, this toxic byproduct lingers on and has been found to cause symptoms that we associate with hangovers or heavy drinking – nausea, vomiting, flushed skin, and sweating. This also aligns with Ayurvedic beliefs about the toxic effects of heavy alcohol intake. Dehydration simply exacerbates and adds to the symptoms.

In Ayurved, the buildup of ama or toxins is also linked to weakened immunity. In the case of alcohol induced toxicity this certainly has proven to be the case, as studies show an increase in cytokine levels with hangover symptoms. Cytokines are normally part of the inflammatory response and trigger fever to fight infections, but in such a scenario, they cause inflammatory symptoms like fatigue, headaches, and muscle aches. With this better understanding of hangovers, we can take action to prevent and treat hangovers more effectively. 

Natural Hangover Prevention & Relief

The most obvious advice would be to avoid or limit your alcohol intake, but that’s easier said than done. Instead, you can take steps to minimize the risk of a hangover and its symptoms. Make it a point to eat before you drink or to keep eating as you drink. Contrary to popular belief, food doesn’t actually absorb alcohol, but the rate at which alcohol is absorbed slows down when your digestive tract is also filled with food. For the same reason it is also advisable to drink slowly – you’ll be able to keep the party going a lot longer! Drinking slowly gives your body a chance to process and eliminate the alcohol more efficiently. While dehydration is not the main culprit for hangovers and alcohol induced toxicity is, dehydration does exacerbate hangover symptoms. This makes it important to stay hydrated when you drink.

Despite your best efforts to avoid a hangover, excessive alcohol intake is likely to still be problematic. This is when you wish you had an anti-hangover pill to banish those symptoms or to prevent the hangover in the first place. While there is no magic pill to prevent or cure a hangover instantly, Dr. Vaidya’s Livitup is the next best thing. Our Ayurvedic medicine for hangover prevention and relief has been carefully formulated to support healthy liver function, improving the metabolism and elimination of toxins from alcohol. The anti-hangover pill not only helps limit and relieve hangover symptoms, but it also increases protection against hepatotoxicity, which can give rise to more serious health problems in the long term. This Ayurvedic medicine is made with purely natural ingredients like guggulu, amla, kalmegh, and shilajit, which are renowned for their detoxifying, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects. 

With its herbal ingredients, Livitup Hangover Shield & Liver Protector lives up to its name improving metabolism to accelerate toxin elimination, thereby reducing hangover symptoms and severity. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds in the herbs also have proven hepatoprotective benefits, reducing the risk of liver damage that is associated with excessive alcohol consumption. 

The Last Word

Despite the efficacy of Livitup, this Ayurvedic medicine for hangovers is not meant to be used as an excuse to drink copious amounts of alcohol. While it can help reduce the damage caused by alcohol (both in the short term and long term), there can be no avoiding the consequences of frequent and excessive alcohol intake. Remember that alcohol abuse is associated with serious health risks including liver disease like cirrhosis and fatty liver disease, high blood pressure, heart disease, and certain types of cancer. It also increases the risk of depression, anxiety disorders, addiction, and dementia, all of which will impair your ability to function. So, instead of partying hard to cope with work stress, find healthier avenues of stress reduction and find a healthier work life balance. If you must party hard to burn steam over the weekend, just remember to also party smart.

References:

• Guo, Rui, and Jun Ren. “Alcohol and acetaldehyde in public health: from marvel to menace.” International journal of environmental research and public health vol. 7,4 (2010): 1285-301. doi:10.3390/ijerph7041285
• Kim, Dai-Jin et al. “Effects of alcohol hangover on cytokine production in healthy subjects.” Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) vol. 31,3 (2003): 167-70. doi:10.1016/j.alcohol.2003.09.003
• Paton, Alex. “Alcohol in the body.” BMJ (Clinical research ed.) vol. 330,7482 (2005): 85-7. doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7482.85
• Singh, Ram B, et al. “Hypolipidemic and Antioxidant Effects of Commiphora Mukul as an Adjunct to Dietary Therapy in Patients with Hypercholesterolemia.” Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy, vol. 8,4, Aug. 1994, pp. 659–664., doi:10.1007/bf00877420
• Patel, Snehal S et al. “Experimental study on effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Emblica officinalis fruits on glucose homeostasis and metabolic parameters.” Ayu vol. 34,4 (2013): 440-4. doi:10.4103/0974-8520.127731