How to Survive Your New Year's Day Hangover

Tips from medical experts on getting through the first day of the new year.

ByABC News
December 30, 2016, 4:31 AM

— -- With New Year's Eve on the horizon, you may be planning on downing a few glasses of champagne, festive punch or other alcoholic beverage to ring in 2017. But have just one glass too many, and you may be left feeling the effects on New Year's morning.

Here's what you need to know about kicking a hangover so you can start 2017 off on the right foot.

Plan Ahead

Dr. Noah Rosen, Director, Northwell Health's Headache Center in Great Neck, New York, said his biggest piece of advice is to be smart about what you drink during any New Year's Eve bash.

"It's probably easier to avoid problems than to treat problems," Rosen said.

He said it's especially key to balance alcoholic beverages with water or other hydrating drinks. He also said people who get chronic migraines should think twice before consuming too much bubbly.

"People who have a headache disorder are at a greater chance for having headaches induced by alcohol," Rosen said.

If you're especially worried, Rosen said it might help to avoid drinking darker alcohol. There's some evidence that darker liquor like whiskey can make a hangover worse, he said.

Skip the Grease

Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency room physician at Lenox Hill Hospital, told ABC News that sipping water with a little bit of honey or munching on a banana can help replenish needed nutrients on New Year's Day.

"You don't need to overdo it on a greasy meal," Glatter said in an earlier interview. "Especially greasy foods can irritate your stomach."

Try Caffeine but Don't Overdo It

Since alcohol can disrupt sleep, picking up a giant coffee for a hangover can seem like a smart answer in the morning. But experts advise being cautious on caffeine intake.

Rosen said it can help to have the same amount of coffee or tea you have other days so you don't compound your hangover with caffeine withdrawal. However, too much caffeine can irritate the stomach and make nausea worse.

Hope Genetics Are on Your Side

Dr. Crystal Lantz-DeGeorge, an internal medicine physician University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, said in an earlier interview with ABC News that some people are genetically predisposed to have worse hangovers than others due to how they process alcohol.

In general, a person first absorbs the alcohol through the intestines into the bloodstream. As the liver filters the blood, it uses chemicals, including an enzyme, to break down the alcohol first into acetaldehyde and then acetic acid, which is removed in your waste. Lantz-DeGeorge said it’s the buildup of acetaldehyde “that causes all the hangover symptoms.”

Lantz-DeGeorge said if your body isn’t making these chemicals fast enough to break down acetaldehyde into acetic acid, you’re going to have an even worse hangover.

People of certain ethnicities, including those of East-Asian descent, are more likely to have a genetic mutation that makes them more efficient at breaking down alcohol into acetaldehyde, which causes common hangover symptoms, according to Lantz-DeGeorge.

When All Else Fails, Try a Sprite

Rosen said there is some preliminary data out of Asia that has shown drinking 7Up or a Sprite-type drink can help speed the breakdown of acetaldehyde into acetic acid, meaning the worst parts of the hangover are minimized.

While the data is preliminary, Rosen said at the very least sipping a noncaffinated drink like ginger ale or Sprite can help with hydration during a hangover.

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