Today’s a pretty big day; aside from the end of a pretty eventful year, it’s the end of our first contest - which I think is way more important. And, the winner is…

…going to be contacted discreetly by email. It’ll be up to them whether or not they want to gloat about their winnings on the site. Don’t worry too much if you didn’t win this time, though; since it worked out pretty well, and everyone was so excited about it, we’re going to start having contests every month! And yes, we’ll have different items to give away, if you were wondering.

As I can’t guarantee that either you nor I will want to look at a computer screen after tonight’s festivities, I’m going to go ahead and post a few tips on how to beat a hangover.

Beating a Hangover

Hangovers are caused by the by products of the chemical process involved with processing alcohol in your body. When your liver breaks down the alcohol, your body synthesizes acetaldehyde, which is chemically not too different from formaldehyde (it’s not good for you). At the same time, your body uses a lot of water, vitamins A, B6, and C as components in the chemical process.

What does all that mean? It means if you drink a lot, your hangover is caused by vitamin deficiency, dehydration, and your body’s synthesis of a toxin that resembles the stuff they preserve dead things with. Therefore, whatever it is you do to cure a hangover, it should attack one or all of these problems. Here’s some ways how:

• Drink LOTS of Gatorade. I, personally, drink tons of gatorade right after drinking, just to stave off a hangover, but if I fall asleep before I can (hey, it happens), then I usually chug away at at least a half gallon of the stuff once I get up. It’s more efficient at rehydrating your body in a hurry than water, so it’ll help take care of that side of things.
• Take Vitamins. Take a multivitamin, and if you’re really feeling it, take an extra vitamin C and B-complex. Those are water soluble so you’re okay to take extra on an off day; vitamin A is fat soluble, so overdosing on that one can do a lot more harm than good.
• SLEEP. Not only will your body be able to process out the acetaldehyde (so that by the time you wake up, you just pee it all away), it also helps because you’re not awake while it hurts.
• Ginger Ale. You’re probably feeling pretty nauseous today, what with the hangover and all. The bubbles and the ginger essence in ginger ale will calm that down for you.
• No Coffee, No Coke. I know lots of people say drinking coffee will help you deal with how tired you feel, but with the dehydration that caffeine induces, this will work against you more than for you in a hangover situation. If you’re taking the B complex, the B12 should be giving you a bit more energy that day, which will help you avoid the immediate need for caffeine.
• Eat something after drinking. This is more of a preventive measure. Whenever I go drinking, by the time I’ve said “when,” I’m ready to grab some pizza, a cheesesteak, or some other warm, cheesy, substantial food. Food doesn’t absorb the alcohol - that’s a myth - but every time you eat, you trigger your metabolism. Eating foods that are cheesy and have lots of ingredients is good because cheeses and carbs are a good source of some of the amino acids you’re going to want back after liquor takes them away.
• Asprin. Asprin doesn’t help process the alcohol, but it takes the edge off of that headache of yours. But take it when you wake up; taking the asprin before you go to sleep is a really bad idea; mainly because your liver has enough to deal with at that point. If you want to kill two birds with one stone, get yourself a couple of Alka Seltzer tabs  - the ones that are for pain relief contain asprin, and they’ll calm down your upset stomach.

There you have it - a simple, but very logical and effective way to deal with any hangover. Best part of all, you don’t have to do any of the more ridiculous remedies, like drinking pickle juice, or doing a “wasabi bomb” right before drinking a quart of chocolate milk. Now that you’re armed with information, feel free to go out there, have a Happy New Year, and celebrate the start of 2009 by scoring yourself a category 5 hangover; you’ll be able to handle it.