Before
The motto ‘preparation is key’ is a great tip for life in general, but there is nowhere it applies better to than a festive night out…
1. Get to bed, pronto
The night before the big day, make sure you get a decent eight hours in. Aside from the fact you're likely to be in bed later than normal after the festive do, your sleep will be affected because your liver and kidneys will be up all night filtering all of the alcohol out of your system. So get to bed early, as tired and hungover is never a good combo.
2. Grab a pre party snack
Aside from drinking less alcohol, nothing can help you offset the adverse effects of the Christmas night out better than the correct food. It's simple: the more food in your stomach, the less quickly alcohol is absorbed so a decent lunch and a pre-party snack are a must.
Focus on including protein and healthy fats such as salmon, avocado and nuts to stabilise your blood sugar levels and alleviate the ill effects of too much alcohol.
3. Drink at least 1.5 litres of water during the day
It might be the season to get merry, but you still need to work the next day. The main cause of a hangover is dehydration, so to aid your ability to function at work make sure you are completely hydrated pre-party to avoid a concentration busting hangover post party.
During
While you're at your Christmas party enjoying the hospitality put on by your company, it's important to remember the purpose of the evening – for you to socialise, have fun and enjoy your colleagues' company.
Note: none of these necessarily involve the requirement to be so drunk you can’t walk!
1. Make your first drink a water
Start as you mean to go on with a water. This small action helps to keep your mindset in the right place and can help you avoid getting too caught up in the spirit of things (no pun intended…).
2. Eat all your dinner
A healthy mix of carbohydrates, protein and good fats will go a long way to preventing any untoward behaviour later in the evening, and will also help you avoid the kebab shop on the way home.
3. One alcoholic drink per hour
It takes about an hour for your body to metabolise each drink, so stick to one an hour. Make every second drink a water as this will mean you remain hydrated through the evening, avoiding a head hanging hangover, and consume half of the alcohol through the night, meaning less dodgy dancing.
After
Even if you followed all of the tips above, there will still be some ill effects on your body due to alcohol and a lack of sleep. But minimise your hangover from six hours to 60 minutes by following these tips.
1. Reach for honey and salt
Alcohol switches off an antidiuretic hormone, which is why you need to go to the bathroom a lot on a night out. This can deplete your body’s levels of salt and sugars so having a mug of hot water with a teaspoon of honey and a pinch of rock salt will help balance this out and leave you feeling ready to face the shower.
2. Breakfast like a king
While a full English may seem look a good idea the morning after it is likely to leave you feeling bloated and sluggish within minutes of eating it. Go for eggs on wholegrain toast with avocado. This will replenish vital B nutrients depleted by alcohol and will energise you for the day ahead.
3. Sweat it out with exercise
It may be the last thing that you feel like doing but just a small amount of low impact exercise will boost your metabolism, working the hangover off quicker, and raise your endorphins putting you in a better mood to deal with your grumpy hungover colleagues.
