Consuming alcohol isn’t necessarily a bad thing unless you overdo it. Studies show the dire consequences of drinking too much alcohol on a daily basis, such as medical complications to poor nutrient absorption from the food you eat, and supplements from places like supplementfirst.com. Plus, who can forget the painful hangovers?
So, if you’re planning to have a fun night out with alcohol, there are supplements you can take to help reduce the painful effects in the morning. Do note that there aren’t foolproof ways to cure hangovers, but these supplements may only help ease the symptoms associated with it.
- N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC)
This is a sulfur containing amino acid, a required substrate to produce glutathione. Glutathione is known as the mother of all antioxidants, a tripeptide chain helping eliminate alcohol from our bodies.
When we detoxify alcohol from our systems, we use up a lot of glutathione. NAC can help replenish our stores of the tripeptide chain to continue the detoxification process. We recommend taking a NAC supplement 30 minutes before drinking to lessen the effects of alcohol, both the intoxicating feeling and the hangover!
- B Vitamins
B Vitamins are a whole family of water-soluble vitamins helping with adequate metabolism, energy production, nerve functioning, and breaking down alcohol in our system. When consuming alcohol we tend to diminish our supply of B vitamins in our system quickly, which slows down our detoxification pathways. As a result, we end up feeling anxious and tired when we get up!
We recommend taking a dose of B vitamins an hour before you begin drinking. You can find B vitamins in stores like Integrative Therapeutics from Supplement First! They are easy to obtain and we recommend taking a dose once you wake up from your night out, too.
- Electrolytes
It’s tempting to hydrate after coming home from your night out, but once you get home, you’re most likely working in a deficit. It’s important to hydrate yourself even before drinking alcohol and to continue doing so throughout the night until you hit the hay. You can hydrate yourself through plain water, but it’s best to also add some electrolytes to improve fluid absorption and replace vital minerals you lost.
- Dihydromyricetin
You might not have heard of this supplement before, but dihydromyricetin has been used in Eastern medicine for a long time as it benefits the brain and liver. This comes from the Japanese raisin tree producing the Hovenia Dulcis extract.
Dihydromyricetin is known to help our livers metabolize alcohol quickly and block it from accessing our brains’ GABA receptors. We recommend taking 1-2 capsules of dihydromyricetin supplements for every three alcoholic drinks, which can reduce the intoxication feeling and hangover symptoms. You can take it before, during, and after alcohol consumption.
Wrapping It Up
With all these supplements in mind, it would be best if you did further research on how alcohol affects our bodies and overall health, and to drink only in moderation.
