Weekend parties are common these days, but many people struggle to overcome hangover symptoms. With more alcohol in your blood, it takes longer to cure the hangover. The natural ways to get back on track are drinking lots of water, exercising, getting some fresh air, and eating.
Many might not know, but tea is also a great option to cure the hangover effects. It replenishes a bit of the water you lose after drinking, lowering the hangover symptoms. So, tea does help with hangovers.
However, some teas have quicker effects than others. So which one is the best, and how do they work? Let’s find out.
What Causes a Hangover?
Those who lose control while drinking are familiar with the fatigue and muscle aches they experience after waking up from the party. If that is not enough, you’ll vomit to throw the excessive alcohol out of your body. These are the most common side effects, followed by headaches and memory loss. However, how does it all happen? How come your body causes all these issues after consuming alcohol?
• Ethanol
Ethanol is present in most alcoholic beverages and is also a diuretic. It makes you pee more, and with extra peeing, you lose water and salt from your body. Lack of water and salt leads to dehydration, which causes a headache and thirst, which is why consuming liquids is one way to cure hangover effects.
Acetaldehyde is a chemical that causes inflammation in your body. Your liver breaks down alcohol and creates acetaldehyde leading to stomach aches and body pain. So, the more you drink alcohol, the stronger the pain will be.
• Congeners
These compounds are used in alcoholic beverages to give flavor and colors. Drinks with higher levels of congeners cause more severe hangovers. Since congeners are the result of fermentation, they enhance the intensity of alcohol, which leads to bigger problems.
• Sulfites
Sulfite is a naturally occurring element in grapes that helps produce wine and is added to wine and other drinks to improve taste and preservation. Usually, sulfites won’t cause a significant problem, but those sensitive to sulfites can develop severe headaches after drinking.
• Sugar
We all know that consuming extra sugar gives you a sugar rush, which crashes the body afterward because of low energy levels. When you drink a sugary alcoholic drink, the same happens, but on a higher level. This is why you feel energetic as long as you drink but have zero energy after sleep. The worst part is that you can have a much more severe hangover due to the high sugar in your drinks.
How Does Tea Help With Hangovers?
Before we share the best hangover teas, here is how tea helps with this complication. Even your everyday ginger tea acts as a promising hangover cure, providing multiple health benefits.
• Hydrating
Tea is commonly known to hydrate your body. Why? Because you make tea in water, and in simple words, you are consuming a cup of water with tea enhancing its concentration. You’ll drink more water, and some teas, such as peppermint tea, will refresh your mind.
• Anti-inflammatory
Well, not all teas have solid anti-inflammatory properties, but drinking green tea has shown some benefits against inflammation
. If you drink a cup of strong green tea immediately after waking up, the hangover will be significantly reduced within 15-20 minutes. This will help you regain your senses, allowing you to move around, which reduces the hangover symptoms more.
• High in Antioxidants
Green tea is here to rescue you again with a high amount of antioxidants like polyphenols or flavonoids. They help eliminate the traces of alcohol in the liver to reduce their after-effects.
Best Tea for Hangover
Remember one thing: Don’t chug the tea and drink a lot of it. One or maybe two cups of tea would be enough to lower the hangover symptoms. Different teas have different benefits, and learning about them can be more helpful. Why? You never know what side effects you’ll face after consuming alcohol. So, it is better to drink the right hangover tea so you can get a quick remedy from alcohol.
• Turmeric Tea
The first on our list is turmeric tea because of its potent anti-inflammatory properties. Many countries in the Middle East mix turmeric in milk for strength and to help heal wounds. Research suggests that turmeric tea is excellent for preventing a hangover headache, migraines, and pain caused by excessive alcohol consumption.
You can also add cardamom, aniseed, or fennel to turmeric tea to make an even more potent anti-hangover drink.
• Chamomile Tea
Chamomile tea is a very soothing natural remedy for stomach issues and upset nerves. Freshly harvested chamomile flowers provide the best results for reducing gastrointestinal problems and the anxiety you get from hangovers. Additionally, it also has anti-inflammatory properties, helping you overcome pain in a short time.
• Ginger Tea
Ginger tea is an effective option to cure nausea and vomiting, common after a hangover. The anti-inflammatory properties of this herbal tea help reduce muscle aches, and a tea lover will cherish its taste. You can add a little mint and enjoy the refreshing minty tea that lightens your mood and provides many perceived health benefits.
• Green Tea
Green tea is one of the most common teas people use and is considered the best hangover cure. The first reason is that it is rich in antioxidants and has the best anti-inflammatory properties. It works best if you have sugar-rich alcoholic drinks because it lowers the sugar content in your blood. This also reduces the agony people experience after a hangover due to a sudden increase and drop in sugar levels.
• Black Tea
Black tea and caffeine are excellent for reducing hangover fatigue. However, because black tea does not help with dehydration, you should drink plenty of water afterward.
• Peppermint Tea
Peppermint tea has multiple health benefits, including as a digestion aid and for curing stomach aches, and it is also delicious. If you have an upset stomach and want to refresh your mood to continue your daily life, try a small cup of peppermint tea.
How Much Tea Is Suitable for a Hangover?
Drinking a big glass of tea is unnecessary to cure the hangover symptoms. Instead, you can try a regular size cup of tea to see if that works. If nothing happens within 30 minutes, get something to eat, walk for 5 minutes, and try another cup.
Boost Tea Results to Cure Hangover
You can drink tea, and it will help lower the hangover effects, but sometimes the alcohol content is way too much that tea alone cannot help. In such cases, you might need to do some extra activities after drinking tea.
• Try a Hydration Powder Pack
If you are not getting satisfactory results after drinking tea or are still feeling dehydrated, drinking water alone won’t suffice. Instead, grab a hydration powder pack, mix it in water, and drink. These packs have electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and carbs to improve hydration. Using this powder pack first and then drinking the tea will be even better. With a hydrated body, the tea will show results much faster.
• Light Exercise
If you regain your senses and have some energy after drinking tea, the next step is to exercise lightly to freshen your brain. This helps better if you are not hungry or thirsty after waking up. A little exercise will trigger your hunger and thirst, so you can eat, drink, and regain power. Try ginger tea with breakfast and watch how quickly it cures your hangover.
• Pain Relievers
In some instances, the tea is insufficient to cure the pain. Especially when you sleep a lot after drinking, your body needs a boost to cure pain. Use some pain relievers to calm your body, and have something to eat before drinking another cup of tea.
Final Words
Drinking alcohol at parties or at night is quite common, but it has side effects. If you let loose and drink a lot, a hangover is inevitable. Drinking tea is a suitable option if you don’t have the energy to move around to cure this side effect. Try one of the teas we shared in this article to reduce the side effects of a hangover, like a headache, fatigue, pain, nausea, and more.