Comparitive Childhood talked about McDonald's fast food today and got me thinking about my hangover eating preferences.
First and foremost, I've gotta have a Pepsi (Coke will do in a pinch but it isn't quite the same). I keep a 12-pack of Caffeine Free Pepsi in my pantry, available on a strictly "break open in case of hangover" basis.
Second in line, and later in the day: a burger and fries.
Back in my college days, weekend mornings were synonymous with hangovers. Genesee Keg party, anyone?
I shared a Victorian era house with a group of Irish Catholic girls who collected keg money on Friday night with all the solemnity of a Sunday morning collection plate. In those days, it wasn't unusual for me to stay up half the night with my buds, sometimes til the sun came up, until we floated the keg.
Something about keg beer and particularly nasty hangovers.
Which meant there was hell to pay if I was scheduled for the morning shift at my Kmart job (yes, that's right, that was me on the loudspeaker announcing Blue Light Specials in Ladies Lingerie). But make my shift I must, so I trotted off with a serious dog on my head.
Conveniently, on the way to work, there was a string of fast food restaurants. First stop McD's for their excellent fries and a Pepsi. Next stop Wendy's for a burger with mustard and pickles only. Ahh. Good as new. Or good enough to get me through the day.
These days I have moved away from keg beer (far, far away) and toward vodka that's been distilled four or five times. On another preventative front: B-complex, an ibuprofen, and LOTS of water before I go to bed. Works like a charm, when I remember to take it.
How about you? What are your hangover cures? Replies along the lines of, "I don't drink enough for hangovers" will be summarily deleted. (kidding, of course).
Here are a few (hopefully) helpful links:
-- Hangover-cure is a blog dedicated to the cause.
-- Ten Quick Hangover Cures offered up at Mental Floss, here.
-- Ten Healthy Hangover Cures, here. Before: Almonds; During: clear alcohol; After: no caffeine, sports drinks and lots of water.
-- Sciencebase says there is no such thing as a hangover cure, here. Boo hiss boo. Leave my placebo voodoo alone, please. These buzz kills say the only way to cure a hangover is to prevent one by drinking less. Well ok, if you say so.
A political aside (because there is always a political aside from where I'm sitting). These hangover hints will not help Alaska's Senator Ted Stevens, I'm not sorry to say. Today he was found guilty on all seven counts of corruption (read about it here). I'd call that suffering from 4o years of swigging pork barrel swill and swindling his constituents.
