Christmas Eve

Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas. - Dale Evans

Hangover Remedy Recipe

(gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, grain-free, egg-free)

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Tis the time of year when there is likely to be some overindulgence 🙂

Even if you are not a drinker, this is a refreshing, rehydrating drink to replace the electrolytes in your body after along day on the beach, after exercise or to offer to your little one if she/he is ill.

Key: gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, grain-free, egg-free, vegetarian, great for kids too

INGREDIENTS

(t. = teaspoon; T. = tablespoon, C. = cup)

650g (1 big slice) watermelon, cut into chunks (with seeds)
20g fresh ginger, peeled
330ml preservative-free, sugar-free coconut water, frozen in an ice cube tray
juice of 1 lemon
1T. camu camu powder
2 T. raw honey

METHOD

Place the watermelon chunks (with seeds) and the ginger into a blender and blend until smooth.
Pour the mixture through a sieve to remove the bits.
Return the mixture to the blender.
Add the coconut water ice blocks, lemon juice, camu camu powder and honey and blend again.
Pour into a glass and enjoy!

What is a hangover?

Each ingredient in this juice has a role to play in helping you recover from a hangover.

Essentially when you are hung-over you are dehydrated, have an electrolyte imbalance, have depleted your vitamin B’s, have an acidic system and a burdened liver (the primary site for alcohol metabolisation). To recover from a hangover, you need to address all of this.

What Are Electrolytes and Why Do We Need Them?

Electrolytes are basically salts – specifically the ions in salt. According to Discovery Health, “electrolytes are important because they are what your cells (especially nerve, heart, muscle) use to maintain voltages across their cell membranes and to carry electrical impulses (nerve impulses, muscle contractions) across themselves and to other cells.”

Some of the major roles that electrolytes have within the body include:

Calcium: helping with muscle contractions, nerve signaling, blood clotting, cell division, and forming/maintaining bones and teeth
Potassium: helping keep blood pressure levels stable, regulating heart contractions, helping with muscle functions
Magnesium: needed for muscle contractions, proper heart rhythms, nerve functioning, bone-building and strength, reducing anxiety, digestion, and keeping a stable protein-fluid balance
Sodium: helps maintain fluid balance, needed for muscle contractions, and helps with nerve signaling
Chloride: maintains fluid balance

Source: Dr Axe

How each ingredient aids your recovery:

Watermelon

Watermelon is water-rich to hydrate you and is loaded with potassium, magnesium and L-citrulline, an amino acid which has been shown to boost blood circulation — which will help your body process toxins and detox the liver.

Ginger

Ginger is a tried and tested treatment for nausea and pain – making it very useful when you have a hangover. It assists in the digestion of alcohol, soothes the stomach and is a powerful anti-inflammatory.

It is also a source of vitamin C, magnesium and potassium.

Coconut Water

“Coconut water has been consumed for centuries in tropical countries and is believed to treat a variety of health-related ailments. In Sanskrit, coconuts are called “kalpa vriksha” which means “tree which gives all that is necessary for living”. – Dr. Axe

The primary nutrient in coconut water is potassium. It contains approximately 600 mg (12% DV) making it a high electrolyte beverage. Coconut water also contains a small amount of sodium, about 40mg and up to 10% of your daily calcium and magnesium needs.

Coconut water is similar in structure to the fluid used in IV rehydration – it was even used as an IV electrolyte replacement during the Pacific War.

Lemon

Lemon juice encourages the liver to produce bile which is required for digestion (which is slowed down by the over consumption of alcohol).

The vitamin C in fresh lemon juice helps the liver to produce the compound called glutathione. When you drink too much alcohol, your stores of glutathione become depleted, which allows acetaldehyde to build up in your body, causing the toxic hangover effect. The glutathione aids in cleansing and regenerating the liver.

The vitamins and minerals contained in lemons, help the body detox.

Lemons are one of the most alkalizing foods for the body – rectifying the acidity caused by the alcohol.

Camu camu powder

Camu Camu helps feed the body the necessary nutrients it needs to properly detoxify and heal. Vitamin C will help detoxify the alcohol from your body and camu camu powder has 60 times more vitamin c than oranges! The high levels of vitamin C will also help your brain to produce more serotonin, which will enhance your mood.

This antioxidant-rich berry is also a plentiful source of potassium and calcium – two of the electrolytes depleted by alcohol.

It has a tart flavor – which I find thirst quenching.

Honey

Dr. John Emsley, UK Popular Science writer and chemistry academic, “the fructose in honey is an essential compound that helps the body break down alcohol into harmless by-products.” The body uses the fructose found in honey to convert the acetaldehyde made during alcohol metabolism into acetic acid, a substance that is “burned up naturally by the body.”

Raw, organic honey also contains many of the electrolytes you need to replenish after a big night such as: magnesium, potassium, calcium, sulphur, and sodium chlorine. It also has the B vitamins which the liver detoxification pathways rely to detox effectively. Honey contains a type of complex sugar that acts as a prebiotic to support friendly probiotic bacteria populations in the gut – which are also upset by the alcohol.

My advice would be to make this before you go out… drink a glassful before you go out, another when you get home and the rest the next day.