These next two weeks can take their toll on your general well-being: tomorrow’s Wine Festival, this weekend’s GMF and National Day next week mean that we’re likely to suffer from at least the odd dreaded hangover. What can you do?

By Giulietta Durante

Limiting the damage BEFORE you start: 

1. Taking the herb milk thistle before and after you go out drinking can help to offset some of the damage caused by alcohol. Milk thistle helps to regenerate liver cells - this is particularly useful if they’ve taken a beating from excessive alcohol consumption. Start taking milk thistle one or two days before your big night out (or the Gibraltar Music Festival!) and continue taking it for a few days after.

2. Charcoal tablets - charcoal binds to toxins in the gut (in this case alcohol and all its by-products) and helps to pull them out of your system faster. Take 1-2 tablets before going out and then take 1-2 tablets twice a day for the next few days.

And once the damage is done…

As mentioned in my hydration blog, unflavoured coconut water is great for rehydrating as it has the right amounts of minerals to bring your body back to balance. Vita Coco is a good brand and can now be found in most supermarkets. If you can’t face getting off the sofa to make yourself a hangover cure, make sure you get a few cartons of this before a big night out so you can sip on it whilst watching TV and feeling sorry for yourself.

Here are some tried and tested cures that you might find helpful:

Cure no.1

1 tsp grated fresh ginger (this will wake up your liver and help to reduce nausea)

2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped

330ml (1 small carton) coconut water

1 tbsp flat leaf parsley

Juice of 1 lime

3-4 ice cubes

Blend all the ingredients in a high speed blender (I like to use my nutribullet) and pour over ice - drink straight away and within minutes you’ll start to feel better.

Cure no. 2

Mix a handful of watercress, 1 chopped apple, 1/2 a cucumber and juice of 1/2 lemon with 250ml filtered water and blend - drink immediately!

Cure no. 3 (possibly only for the hardcore!)

A large handful of parsley, a large handful of coriander (stalks and all!), the juice of 2 limes and a pinch of rock salt, 500ml filtered water and 3-4 cubes of ice. Blend and drink immediately!

Even though Cure No.3 might sound a bit odd, it contains all the ingredients you need to recover quickly from the night before: parsley really supports liver and kidney function and coriander is brilliant at binding to toxins and helping to flush them out. The antioxidant rich lime juice will give the juice a real twist and wake you up in no time! Additionally the pinch of rock salt will serve to hydrate you really quickly as we all now know dehydration is not only about the loss of water but minerals too. So go on, what are you waiting for?

Giulietta is a Nutritional Therapist and Health Coach with a special interest in women’s health. She is based in London and offers worldwide Skype and FaceTime consultations. To find out how Giulietta can help you achieve your health goals email her at: [email protected] uk or visit her website www.hormonesinharmony.co.uk.