Word: alcoholism
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Drinking moderately or not at all is of course your best bet for a problem-free New Year's Day. And we'll just assume you know better than to drink and drive. But if you do get plastered, be sure to quaff plenty of water, since alcohol acts like a diuretic, flushing fluids out of your system. A good rule of thumb is to drink a glass of water for every glass of wine or beer you have, and more for hard liquor...
...general, carbohydrates are your friends. Alcohol affects the way your body metabolizes nutrients, causing many people's blood sugar to drop. You may not fancy the idea of eating solid food the morning after, but nibbling on some crackers or a piece of bread should help overcome your sugar blues. And you shouldn't drink on an empty stomach. Imbibing during a meal slows absorption of alcohol and gives your body more time to detoxify...
...usually a good idea to go to bed at a decent hour. Even teetotalers tend to feel a bit hung over if they stay up all night. Don't be surprised, however, if you wake up a couple of hours after you fall asleep. Your brain counteracts alcohol's sedative effects by becoming more excited...
Whatever you do, don't make yourself throw up. "Vomiting on an empty stomach--which is usually the case with a hangover--can create potentially dangerous tears in the esophagus," says Dr. Robert Swift, an alcohol researcher at Brown University. He recommends Pepto-Bismol if you're feeling nauseated...
...take Tylenol or other acetaminophen-based drugs for your headache, since they can prove toxic in combination with alcohol (or if you already have liver damage). Avoid taking other pain relievers, such as aspirin or ibuprofen, that will irritate the stomach lining even more, or at the very least, make sure they're buffered...