Hangovers – Facts, Remedies, and Protocols

There’s nothing like a good buzz, but add to it with another drink and tomorrow morning may be torture. Hangovers are terrible, horrible things, as many of us can attest. But ironically enough, while we’re all too familiar with the symptoms of too much drinking, a lot of us have no idea how alcohol actually causes hangovers.

Alcohol’s Effect

When we drink alcohol (ethanol, specifically), it makes it’s way through our digestive system. It is then absorbed into the bloodstream where it circulates until the liver is able to process it. Once it’s in the liver, the enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase, breaks it down into acetaldehyde – a toxin that’s far more toxic than ethanol itself. Luckily, the antioxidant glutathione is able to jump in with acetaldehyde dehydrogenase to break it down yet again, this time converting it into non-toxic acetate.

The metabolization of those Friday night cocktails is a pretty impressive process. However, as powerful an organ as the liver proves to be, there are limits to its detoxifying powers. The typical liver is able to process ½ oz of ethanol per hour (about one drink). When we tip back brews faster than we can metabolize them, our glutathione gets used up quicker than it can be replenished. There’s no other option but to put detoxification on hold while glutathione stores build back up. This leads to a build-up of the nasty toxin acetaldehyde, the culprit behind our hangover woes.

The Hangover

With alcohol in our system, our body stops producing the antidiuretic hormone ADH. Now all available water stores are tapped into — brain included — in order to flush the toxin out. This rise in fluid raises our blood volume, which leads to a spike in blood pressure. Luckily we’re able to offset this by sending fluids to the bladder, but every trip to the toilet deplenishes more of our water reserves, and precious electrolytes are being flushed as well.

With alcohol in our system, the body puts a halt on producing the stimulant glutamine — leaving us drowsy and ready to nap at a moment’s notice. This deep sleep won’t last though. Once our livers are able to process the last of the alcohol in our bloodstream, glutamine goes back into production and that booze-induced snooze is interrupted. Depending on the damage, waking up can be quite a doozy. All those lost water reserves leave us dehydrated, our brains shrunken, and our electrolyte levels low; a physiological recipe for disaster.

The “Cure”

We can try to prevent hangovers altogether by drinking plenty of water and giving our livers a much-needed break between drinks. However, there are bound to be nights that we get carried away. In that case, a dose of electrolytes, supplements, and eggs can be paired with a nice long Epsom soak.

The important minerals we call electrolytes play a crucial role in hydration, so they’re a must for Saturday mornings. Bone broth, potassium-packed bananas, and a dash of sea salt all offer a serving of these balancing minerals. Coconut water is especially popular thanks to its electrolyte content, so it’s a great thing to have in the fridge before you head out Friday. But if you want to step it up a notch, make it coconut kefir. A study through the American College of Gastroenterology showed that drinking one serving of alcohol per day (2 drinks for men and 1 for women) was connected to a higher count of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). This can leading to uncomfortable bowel problems like gas and bloating, and it can even reduce our small intestine’s ability to absorb important nutrients.

After drinking some liquid remedies, consider supplements like n-acetylcysteine. It can be taken before ordering that first drink to help the body process acetaldehyde and reduce the after-effects. Milk thistle extract is another helpful supplement that contains liver-protecting antioxidants that can also boost production of glutathione. Combine this with Vitamin C and the liver will get an extra shot of power in metabolizing alcohol. However, if your cupboards are bare of any vitamins or supplements you can always turn to the fridge for some eggs. Fried in a skillet or baked up as a frittata, they offer a punch of cysteine for inexpensive damage control that will help break down acetaldehyde.

If your joints are aching, draw up a hot bath infused with Epsom salt (aka electrolyte-balancing Magnesium Sulfate). Magnesium has much to offer aches and pains thanks to its anti-inflammatory nature. Plus, a good soak in hot water offers an increase in circulation that will help blood flow through the liver quicker, thereby speeding up the process of detoxification. And for more hangover magic, consider adding aromatherapy to your weekend bath. Thanks to the highly volatile nature of quality essential oils, the beneficial compounds can be inhaled as well as absorbed by the skin. Lavender is particularly relaxing and therapeutic while rosemary works wonders with migraines. Should help be needed with easing nausea, soothing digestion, or taming headaches, peppermint makes an excellent ally.

Important Factors

We’re always reading about different drinking limits for men than for women. This has many of us ladies ready to wage a drinking competition, but there’s a reason drinking recommendations differ. Levels of ALDH and glutathione are generally lower in women, so we aren’t able to be metabolized alcohol as quickly. There are also differences in the body’s ability to process alcohol between races across the globe, with people of East Asian descent often getting a bigger impact per drink because of the how their alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase process alcohol.

However, male or female, the suggested remedies above have great potential with those haggard weekend mornings. But while they can do much to tame the pains of a night out, they’re meaningless when it comes to binges and regular drinking. High amounts of alcohol over a period of time can do serious damage to our bodies. It’s also a sign of a bigger problem like alcohol dependency. A healthy body takes a healthy liver, and that means taking a break from the stress of alcohol. So, every now and then, show your liver some love with a virgin margarita or Bloody Mary. No hangover – 100% guaranteed.

Editor’s Note: A high-quality probiotic is essential for recovering quickly from a night of drinking. Alcohol kills our beneficial microflora, but it does not kill Candida or other fungal spores that take over right away. If you drink frequently and are ready to cut down and repair the gut, check out the further reading below.

My own personal protocol includes 15 FloraMend or Bio-K, goat milk Keifer (plain), a B vitamin complex, and I do my usual cranberry and salad routine which will flush the body and detox the liver.

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Boost Your Liver Function Naturally

The liver is one of the most important of all our vital organs. The liver is responsible for filtering and detoxifying environmental toxins and pathogenic organisms. Unlike many organs, a failing liver is unable to be surgically fixed or replaced. Improve your liver health with natural strategies.

The liver is a vital digestive organ that converts nutrients from the food we eat into essential blood components. It helps to store vitamins and minerals and produces key proteins and enzymes that maintain hormonal balance in the body. The liver helps the immune system fight infections and removes microorganisms from the blood stream. It also produces bile which is essential for digesting fats in our diet.

What Harms The Liver?

The most harmful things for liver health include environmental toxins, infectious organisms, alcohol, and poor diet. Exposure to environmental toxins and chemicals can backlog the liver as it tries to neutralize and deactivate these poisonous molecules. These chemicals include xylene, benzene, disinfectant byproducts, heavy metals, pesticides, and cigarette smoke.

Infectious organisms are a major cause of liver stress and inflammation. The most well-known organisms are the hepatitis viruses with the hepatitis B & C viruses being the most dangerous. Any sort of chronic infection in the body such as lyme, influenza, aflatoxin and other mycotoxins have the ability to inflame and damage the liver as well

Poor Diet Damages The Liver

Alcohol and poor diet damage the liver as well. Alcohol must go through the liver’s detoxification cycle to be metabolized and deactivated in the body. Chronic alcohol consumption depletes the liver of valuable glutathione, sulfur compounds, and methylating elements such as zinc, riboflavin, B6, folate, and B12.

Poor blood sugar signaling and a diet high in processed foods that contain toxic additives, preservatives, pesticides, GMO’s, etc. drain the liver of valuable glutathione,sulfurcompounds, and methylating elements. Often times, individuals who consume a diet high in alcohol and processed foods are not consuming the key nutrients they need to produce glutathione, sulfotransferases, and methylating agents.

The Liver Health Nutrition Plan

Foods that are challenging for the liver should be eliminated. This includes processed and refined foods and common food sensitivities such as gluten, soy, peanuts, pasteurized dairy, and corn.

Foods that are high in mycotoxins must be minimized as well. This would include most legumes and nuts which should only be consumed in small moderation. Be sure to get your organic, mold-free coffee and raw cacao and refrigerate it to prevent mycotoxin formation.

Anyone with liver challenges should be vigilant about using only certified organic, chemical free products. This includes all food choices, personal hygiene products, and household cleaning agents. Reducing toxin exposure from the environment including water and air filtration is very important.

Liver Detoxification Lifestyle

A lifestyle that supports liver detoxification includes reducing toxic exposure while simultaneously enhancing immunity, rebuilding glutathione levels, sulfur compounds and methylation.

We use the phrase, “Bitter is good for the liver,” to help us remember that bitter herbs are especially good for the liver and the body’s detoxification process.

Using detoxification techniques such as Epsom saltbaths, coffee enemas, oil pulling, dry brushing, intermittent fasting, water flushing, and infrared sauna are especially helpful for strengthening the liver. These should be done whenever possible along with consuming liver healthy foods.

Best Foods For Liver Health

Some of the best liver benefiting foods include those that are rich in B vitamins, vitamin C, and trace minerals. This would include lots of raw veggies like celery, spinach, cucumbers, and romaine lettuce and steamed veggies such as the cruciferous family. It is also especially advisable to juice your veggies to better absorb the nutrients. Citrus fruit and berries are especially good for the liver.

Using herbs such as ginger, milk thistle, cilantro, watercress, wormwood, mint, horseradish, sorrel, radish, peppermint, parsley, dandelion, coriander, garlic, and turmeric are especially good for liver health. A great juicing recipe for liver and kidney health is spinach, celery, cucumber, lemon, and ginger. Another favorite is kale, cucumber, parsley, celery, and lime.

Eating liver from an organic, pasture-raised animal provides powerful nutritional support for liver health. This would include grass-fed beef liver, fish liver, wild-game liver, or pasture-raised chicken liver. Pasture-raised eggs are also an incredible source of liver supportive nutrients such as sulfur compounds, methylating elements, and glutathione precursers.

Boosting Phase I Liver Detox Support

This is the Cytochrome P450 enzyme phase that transforms the toxins into a chemical form for further metabolism in phase II. These P450 enzymes depend upon amino acids, vitamin A, B2, B3, C, E, folate, iron, calcium, copper, zinc, magnesium, and selenium. Deficiencies in these nutrients slow the transformation of specific toxins. The top threats to these deficiencies include blood sugar imbalances, a deficient diet and poor gut function that hampers nutrient absorption.

The best foods for these key nutrients include dark green leafy veggies, citrus fruits, berries, carrots and organic nuts & seeds such as Brazil nuts, almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, and chia seeds among other things. Consuming pastured eggs and liver from pasture-raised animals are a fantastic source of many of these key nutrients.

Boosting Phase II Liver Detox Support

Phase II liver support is when the various toxins are conjugated into water soluble forms. The conjugation reactions involve multiple pathways. The key nutrients needed to boost phase II liver detoxification include methylating agents, glutathione and sulfur compounds.

Methylation depends upon high levels of vitamin B2, B3, B6, Folate, and B12 as well as trimethylglycine and choline. We get these nutrients from dark-green leafy veggies, organ meats and pasture-raised eggs among other sources.

Glutathione boosting agents include milk thistle, turmeric, non-denatured whey protein, pasture-raised eggs, onions, and cruciferous veggies.

Sulfur compounds such as cysteine and methionine are found in onions, garlic, pasture-raised eggs, and cruciferous veggies.

Boosting Phase III Liver Detox Support

This process transports the transformed, conjugated toxins out of the cells and into a shuttle to get it into the urine or bile for excretion. This depends upon enzymes that are formed from nutrients we described above.

Additional support comes from nutrients that improve bile flow, blood purification, and soluble fiber sources. Bile Flow support comes from ginger, yarrow, artichoke, dandelion, cumin,and fennel. Blood purification comes from chlorophyll rich foods such as wheat grass, oat grass, chlorella, and spirulina along with regular consumption of dark, green leafy veggies.

Soluble fiber sources such as chia, flax, hemp and pumpkin seeds are a tremendous help to the liver detoxification process. These fibers bind up the excreted bile and deactivated toxins. Insoluble fiber sources such as fruit and veggies help to sweep fiber/bile/toxin compounds out of the system through the bowels.

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The benefits of Milk Thistle

Milk thistle is a flowering plant that is part of the daisy family. It gets its name from its bristly and prickly nature and the “milky” sap that oozes out of the plant. The leaves, fruits, and seeds of milk thistle have been used for centuries as a natural medicine. Milk thistle is one of the world’s most powerful liver detoxifying agents.

Milk thistle was used by medical herbalists in the late nineteenth century to treat varicose veins and liver, spleen, and kidney disorders. Today, it is primarily used to improve the function of the liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal system. Many individuals have seen dramatic improvement using milk thistle for health issues such as psoriasis, menstrual problems, jaundice, and poor circulation.

Milk Thistle and Liver Health

The active antioxidant compound within milk thistle is the flavonoid complex called Silymarin. This anti-oxidant is one of the most powerful liver detoxifying agents. It helps to boost glutathione and superoxide dismutase which are two the body’s master super antioxidants. One study found that silymarin increased glutathione content in the intestines and liver by up to 50%. Boosting glutathione helps protect the intestines from inflammatory damage that leads to ulcers and colitis.

Milk thistle guards the liver’s numerous hepatic cell membranes and slows the rate at which toxins can be absorbed into the liver. Research has shown that silymarin enhances protein synthesis to enhance liver cell regeneration and counteract the effects of poisons on the liver. It has been used to treat alcoholic hepatitis, alcoholic fatty liver, cirrhosis-liver poisoning, and viral hepatitis.

Silymarin and Kidney Health

Silymarin concentrates in kidney cells where it helps repair and regenerate protein enzymes and DNA. One study indicated that it increased kidney cell replication by 25-30% over control groups. This is extremely important for individuals who have suffered mild-to-severe kidney damage from infections, kidney stone formation, or environmental toxins.

The kidneys are one of the major organs that are damaged by chemotherapy agents. Research has shown that the major compounds in silymarin protect the kidneys from these dangerous drugs. In particular, they protect the cell membrane of the kidney, cells allowing for healthy cell receptor activity.

Silymarin is considered to be 10 times as potent as vitamin E and increases the activity of the powerful antioxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD) in red and white blood cells in patients suffering with liver disease. This increases oxygenation and immunity.

Studies have shown that the major compounds of silymarin are silybin and silychristin. These compounds have a low absorption rate at about 20-50%. It is better to use milk thistle in a standardized extract. Milk thistle can also be fermented in an organic acid base for optimal digestion and nutrient assimilation.

Milk Thistle as a Demulcent

Milk Thistle is a demulcent that improves the health of the body’s mucous membranes. This reduces inflammation within the skin cells, sinus and respiratory tract, and kidney and bladder wall lining. It also reduces inflammatory stress in the bile duct and inhibits the formation of gall stones. This improves the functionality of the gall bladder and allows for complete bile release.

Milk Thistle also helps soften and improve the moisturization of the skin, This is especially helpful for individuals with acne and exzema and other skin impurities. It has also been shown to improve the overall glow and radiance of the skin quality.

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The Gallbladder, Bile, and Gallstones

The Lifecycle of Bile and How the Gallbladder Works

While the following explanation of the gallbladder’s function is very simplistic, it should give an overview that explains the importance of the role bile plays in digestion and toxin removal.

Bile is a bitter, dark green to yellow/brown fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder between meals. The gallbladder concentrates bile’s potency. Bile is discharged to aid in digestion of fat and fat soluble vitamins. Bile is also used to eliminate waste such as excess cholesterol, bilirubin, and toxins.

When we eat fats and proteins, the gallbladder expels stored bile acids into the small intestine where the bile emulsifies fat and fat soluble vitamins, permitting the body to digest fat with pancreatic enzymes called lipase. Up to 95% of the bile is then absorbed back into the blood and transported through the portal vein to the liver. The liver again stores the bile in the gallbladder.

The liver can be easily overwhelmed by a toxic lifestyle. Since the liver uses bile to transport toxins to the kidneys and intestines for elimination, an overburdened body can result in a sluggish liver, kidneys, and gallbladder.

Gallbladder Attack

Gallstones can form in the gallbladder or in the bile duct. There are many theories as to why gallstones form; while it appears there are multiple reasons, a sluggish system seems to play a part in every scenario (this is also true for kidney stones). While conventional doctors often feel that gallstones happen purely by chance, it is apparent all factors that can lead to gallstones are attributed to a toxic and unhealthy lifestyle.

Pain caused by stones in the bile duct or inflammation and swelling of the gallbladder is generally referred to as a gallbladder attack. Conventional medical treatment is removal of the organ.

Without the gallbladder (or if the gallbladder is not functioning properly) the body’s capacity to digest fats and fat soluble vitamins is radically impaired. The body also has a much harder time eliminating toxins. Consequently, excess fat is stored along with toxins. Toxins also circulate throughout the body where they accumulate and cause problems.