Many will say that the best cure to a hangover is not to over-drink in the first place. However, those who say that are simply hypocrites, control freaks or people allergic to alcohol. Let’s face it, hangovers can happen even to the best of us. Even to those who almost never drink and almost always conduct a healthy lifetyle. Indeed, it can happen to get carried away during a special occasion, especially if the service is so good that your glass if always full.

The subject of this post is not about giving you advice on how to drink less or how to choose good quality alcohol. Neither it is about the bad effects of alcohol on health. This post is about how to beat hangover symptoms once they are there, based on some serious field research that I’ve conducted specifically for this post, last night, at party. Alright, just kidding. The research happened spontaneously, without me planning it, and since I’ve managed to beat my hangover in only a few hours, I’ve decided to write a post about it.

Here’s my list of essential steps to follow in order to beat hangover symptoms:

1. Get some sleep.

First and foremost get some serious sleep, because sleeping is healing. During sleep our body restores and repairs itself by releasing special hormones.

 2. Sweat it out.

Sweating is the means for our body to release toxins, and toxins contained in alcohol are the reason why our head is hurting in the first place. Thus, sweat it out. No matter how harsh your headache is stop finding excuses and get your hangover to the gym or wherever you may choose to exercise. When I say exercise, I don’t mean some lazy uphill walking or a 15 min cross-training session. Nope. I mean some hardcore group exercise, such as kick-boxing, TRX, body-pump or any other sports where you would feel embarrassed to stop in the middle of your push-ups, as those around you keep going.

3. Go to sauna / hammam.

After your heavy work-out you’re half-way through your healing process. The final phase is going to the sauna or hammam or both. This is another great means to get those nasty toxins out of your body. And if you’ll do a little effort to pamper yourself with a body scrub and a hair musk while you’re at it, you’ll go home feeling completely renewed.

4. Drink Water.

Consume as much water as you can and pee all the bad stuff out. Once you can’t look at water anymore because you’ve reached your consumption limits – switch to smoothies, juices and teas. Any healthy liquid will do.

5. Ginger Tea and Mint Water.

Drinking ginger tea is my favourite remedy not only for a hangover but also against flu symptoms. I simply cut ginger, lemon and lime into pieces, add water to the saucepan and boil it for about 10 to 15 minutes. I stir and add honey for an ultimate detox remedy and immune system booster. In case it’s hot outside and you want a refreshing drink, mixing fresh mint leaves with lemon and lime also works. Mint is a natural blood purifier. Try it!