17 St. Patrick's Day hangover cures to get you to work this Friday

The_Stir

My apologies to the Irish people and all the "Irish for a day" folks too, but I've got a problem with St. Patrick's Day. Every year it is on March 17. Which means most years it falls sometime mid-week.

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So the one day it's practically un-American NOT to drink a few pitchers of green beer, and you have to go to work the next morning ... with a wee bit of a hangover? Not cool St. Pat. Not cool.

But since y'all are sticking to the 17th, and we're Irish too (for the day!), here are 17 hangover cures that really work (either science or my friends claim they do!). You might want to post this on the office wall:

1. Drink a glass of ginger ale or suck a ginger candy. Ginger has been scientifically proven to soothe nausea.

2. Drink a tall, cold glass of Hawaiian punch. The flavor will knock out the taste of that stale beer.

3. Know someone in the medical field? Ask her for an IV and an oxygen mask. Hey, it's worth a shot.

4. Make yourself throw up. Not fun coming up, but getting all that mess out of there means it's not roiling around in your stomach.

5. Drink water. This is better when done the night of -- one glass of water per drink, but it's never too late to drink up. One of the reasons a hangover hits so hard is because you're dehydrated by the alcohol (notice it makes you urinate a lot), so you'll need to replenish your body's water supply.

6. Pedialyte. It rehydrates the kiddos, so why not you? And it comes in yummy flavors.

7. Preggie Pops. While we're on the subject of the little ones, have you TRIED those lollipops that help pregnant women with their nausea? They're yummy ... and do the job.

8. Saltines. Another pregnant woman's trick that works like a charm. Although the whole drunk/pregnant woman theme may sound scary when you actually ARE drunk.

9. Grilled cheese and French fries. Grease is your friend; it coats your stomach ... or it will make you throw up the gross stuff. Either way, you won!

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10. Tylenol and Gatorade. One helps with the headache, the other with the dehydration. Problem solved.

11. Flat Sierra Mist. Caffeine will dehydrate you more! So stick with a caffeine free soda, and a flat one at that -- the bubbles will just make you feel more like throwing up.

12. Carbo-load! A breakfast filled with bagels, breads, and pancakes will soak up all that liquor.

13. Drank liquor through the night? Have a beer to counteract. You know what they say: Liquor before beer, you're in the clear (not recommended if you're actually DRIVING to work ... or actually going there AT ALL).

13. Coca-Cola and Snickers bar. The perfect mix of sweet and salty is an instant pep up.

14. Eat a bacon sandwich. Scientists have found the bacon "boosts the level of amines" and helps clear the head, while that bread just soaks up the booze.

15. Coffee and an aspirin. Science gets the edge again with this one. They say "caffeine in coffee and the anti-inflammatory ingredients of aspirin and other painkillers reacted against the chemical compounds of ethanol, or pure alcohol." If reading all that didn't make your head hurt, you'll be fine.

16. Irish coffee. Hey, a little hair of the dog never hurt anyone, right? Just don't drive to work after your continued celebration.

17. Chocolate milk. Coat that stomach, and get moving!

What's your can't-fail hangover cure? Do you plan to make it to work on Friday?


Image via Eustaquio Santimano/Flickr

Written by Jeanne Sager for CafeMom's blog, The Stir:

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