New Year’s Eve Hangover Remedies: 4 Hair Of The Dog Cocktails

New Year’s Eve is a time for celebration – but that partying can backfire the next day. While there are preventative measures to avoid a hangover, the occasional after-drinking sickness does occur. If your New Year’s celebrations are continuing into the next day – let’s say for brunch – try to ease your hangover with “hair of the dog.”

Not familiar with the “hair of the dog” expression? Oxford Dictionaries cites that the phrase comes from “a hair of the dog that bit you.” According to the site, it was an “old belief that someone bitten by a rabid dog could be cured of rabies by taking a potion containing some of the dog’s hair.” The expression later became associated with drinking, with some people believing that alcohol – despite being generally unappealing the next day – is a cure for a hangover:

Bloody Mary

Why is a Bloody Mary a go-to cocktail in the morning? Tomato juice, which is high in vitamin c, is the main ingredient in the drink and helps fight the toxins from alcohol. On top of that, Tabasco, another ingredient generally found in Bloody Mary’s, can help cut off the “neurotransmitters that triggers headaches,” reports Men’s Health.

If you’re drinking a Bloody Mary as a “hair of the dog” cocktail, be sure to ask your bartender to use the same alcohol you drank from last night – have a vodka Bloody Mary if you were drinking vodka, gin Blood Mary if you were drinking gin, etc. Click HERE to check out recipes on Pinterest.

Silver Fizz

First We Feast suggests making a “Silver Fizz” after a night of drinking. The cocktail contains egg white, London dry gin, lemon juice, superfine sugar and club soda. The egg white in the drink is beneficial in that it provides protein. Drinking egg whites is not for everyone, so a good alternative is just to have eggs for breakfast. Click HERE for the Silver Fizz recipe.

Alcohol With Fruit Juice

Fruit juice provides natural sugars that replace electrolytes that you’ve lost while drinking. Fruit Juice can sometimes be confused with a “juice drink” so be sure that the label reads 100% juice. You can re-create the vodka cranberry you might have drank at the bar the night before, or just simply drink the juice plain.

Alcohol With Ginger Ale

Ginger ale is caffeine free, which is a definite bonus when trying to rehydrate after a night of drinking. But that’s not the only benefit from drinking the soft drink. According to Live Strong, ginger root is a remedy for upset stomach and nausea. Like the juice suggestion above, you can drink a refreshing ginger ale without alcohol, or add a splash of your preferred bottle of liquor.

Of course, alcohol is not the best solution for everyone. Charles Cutler, MD, told Health.com that having another drink is “the worst thing to do” when you have a hangover. Health.com explains that alcohol temporarily helps symptoms, but could ultimately lead to an “even worse hangover the following day.” Be sure to rehydrate your body with water, or spice it up with a splash of lime juice. According to Natural News, two teaspoons of lime juice in warm water with a teaspoon of raw honey can aid in stabilizing your pH.

As always, drink responsibly.