CLEVELAND — On Tuessday's Lunch Break with Jay Crawford, Jay and 3News' Romney Smith were schooled in hangover myths by Dr. Frank Esper from The Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Esper plays "Dr. Mythbuster" while Jay and Romney take their best guesses as what's fact and what's fiction when it comes to preventing and curing hangovers, and digital anchor Stephanie Haney weighs in with your guesses from online polls.
Watch the segment here to see Jay, Romney and Stephanie get put to the test, and read below for the answers to the most common hangover questions.
A "Hair of the dog that bit you" cocktail the next morning will NOT help you feel better after a night of drinking.
There is actually no scientific evidence that having another one will stop you feeling rough.
While it may temporarily make you feel a bit better, it merely postpones the symptoms until later in the day.
The road to recovery starts with hydration. When you have a hangover, you’re dehydrated and your electrolyte level is low. Consuming a sports drink, coconut water or electrolyte-enhanced beverage before you go to bed or as soon as you get up can help replace electrolytes. Or just simply focus on drinking water.
There is no magic potion for beating hangovers—and only time can help. A person must wait for the body to finish clearing the toxic byproducts of alcohol metabolism, to rehydrate, to heal irritated tissue, and to restore immune and brain activity to normal.
Fun Fact: Originally "hair of the dog" referred to attempting to treat a rabid dog bite by placing hair from the attacking dog in the bite wound. (That didn’t work either.)
Eating actually WILL help cure a hangover.
After drinking, your blood sugar levels are low, so eating something helps maintain your blood sugar level, but contrary to popular belief, greasy foods like burgers aren’t going to give you the vitamins and minerals that your body needs.
Dietitians recommend plain foods like rice, toast or applesauce that are easy for the body to digest. They also tend to contain carbohydrates, which can often help boost your blood sugar.
There is evidence that the natural sugars found in honey and fruits may help get the alcohol out of your system a little faster. Good picks include mangos, grapes, pears, watermelon and plantains.
It's also a myth that eating immediately after drinking will absorb the alcohol in your stomach and ease a hangover.
Food has to be in your stomach BEFORE you drink. Food in your stomach before drinking will slow delivery of alcohol to your bloodstream
A good night’s sleep WILL help your hangover.
Studies show that people who don’t get adequate sleep after excessive drinking have shown worse effects of a hangover compared to others who got more sleep.
But it could be harder to sleep well after a night of drinking because, as the alcohol is metabolized during the second half of the night, you’re likely to experience insomnia, fragmented sleep, or simply waking up more frequently.
Taking Ibuprofen or Tylenol (acetaminophen) immediately after drinking will NOT help prevent hangover symptoms.
Not only do drugs like Aspirin and acetaminophen have short windows of effectiveness in the body—you'll be asleep for their most effective time—but they're hard on your stomach and liver, which is already working overtime.
Taking acetaminophen is actually potentially very dangerous for heavy drinkers or people with liver problems.
Save the Ibuprofen for the next day and only if you really need it—and instead let your body focus on purging the alcohol and rehydrating.
"Beer before liquor, never sicker. Liquor before beer, never fear" is NOT true.
It's not the order you consume your drinks in that matters. Instead, it's the total amount of alcohol that counts.
A number of factors can contribute to hangovers, including mild dehydration, disrupted sleep, gastrointestinal irritation, inflammation, and acetaldehyde exposure, mini-withdrawal.
Because individuals are so different, it is difficult to predict how many drinks will cause a hangover.
If you missed it, you can catch the full episode of Lunch Break with Jay Crawford in the player below:
You can lunch with us each day by commenting on our live streams and tweeting with us during the show using #3lunchbreak.
Your involvement is a huge part of the show, so make sure to keep the conversation going for a chance to have your questions and comments shared on the air.
Lunch Break with Jay Crawford airs Monday through Friday at 12 p.m. Eastern through January 3 on 3News, and streams live on WKYC.com, YouTube, Facebook and on our 3News app.
Beginning in January, you can join Jay, 3News’ Betsy Kling and Stephanie at 5 P.M. for What’s New.
