Dear reader – this is not written from a doctor’s point of view, rather anecdotally from people who know their way around a morning-after headache. Our doctor (and mothers) would just say “don’t drink so much.” Well, true that works, but no one’s sticking to that plan when you’re settling down for a long night at the wedding’s most boring table. Here’s our “School of life” lesson on what you can do to prevent a hangover.

Drinking water

Yes yes, everyone knows this one. Because alcohol is a diuretic, the earlier in the night the better with water (and if you’re displaying truly exceptional willpower, you can alternate alcoholic drinks with water). Don’t forget that due to the heat in Bali, you’re likely more dehydrated to begin with already. Force yourself to down at least a glass when you get home.

Water Accessories

A more accurate commercial for Powerade would be someone trying to not fully sit up in bed while they carefully pour from the bottle into their mouth. Powerade, Gatorade, Pocari Sweat, Hydralyte – they’re all full of electrolytes which can help with dehydration symptoms (fuzzy head, fatigue, headache).

Aside: Ringer’s Lactate (one of our IV solutions) is also full of electrolytes, part of why the treatments make you feel better. Ok we’re done.

Having a “sports drink” before bed (and some more when you wake up) can help ease dehydration-related hangover symptoms.

Midnight snack

Our completely anecdotal opinion here is that eating something starchy is good. Toast, noodles, nasi goreng – anything to act as a bit of a sponge in your stomach. Whether it’s a placebo effect or not, we swear we feel better the next day when we’ve eaten a snack to “soak up the alcohol” the night before.

Drink choice

Vodka soda wins the hangover prevention wars – no sugar and white spirits. In other drinks the addition of preservatives, sugars, and who knows what else don’t help with the next day headache.  We realise it’s hard when there’s a menu full of tasty cocktails in front of you, but, well, you’ve been warned.

These should help, but if you wake up with a category five (we like to think of hangovers like hurricanes), just give us a call.