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How to Sustain Your Get-Up-and-Go
Never face a big night out on an empty stomach. If you’re planning to have fun, you’ll need more than a glass of milk. “Starchy foods, such as pasta or potatoes, keep you going for longer because they allow a slow breakdown of glucose into the bloodstream,” says dietician Gaynor Bussell. “A cup of coffee and a biscuit or a bar of chocolate won’t sustain you, but lean meat can increase energy levels. Whatever you do, avoid fatty foods which are heavy on the stomach and can make you sluggish when you want to party, party, party.”

Top three pre-dance-the-night-away meals: Eat 30-60 minutes before you go out.

• Pasta with vegetables

• Wholemeal sandwich with chicken

• Jacket potato with baked beans

Partying is GOOD for You
Working out in satin and heels is more fun than Lycra and trainers—and better for you too.

• “Frantic dancing can burn up between 400 and 500 calories an hour, which is slightly more than an hour’s high-energy circuit training or an hour on the step machine,” says Luke Williams, fitness instructor at the Metropolitan Club London.

• Slow-dancing and smooching burns up 200-250 calories an hour, about the equivalent of a steady hour on the exercise bike.

• And if you get lucky: a ‘quickie’ will burn up about 80 calories. An hour’s languorous loving, on the other hand, uses up about 250 calories.

Hangover Myths Squashed
Myth: Drinking coffee helps.
Fact: Coffee won’t sober you up or ease your hangover. It’s a stimulant and will make you feel worse.

Myth: Hair-of-the-dog.
Fact: This will only make you drunk again. “Helping yourself to another drink is nothing less than a shortcut to addiction and illness,” says Dr. Patricia Last, Director of Woman’s Health Screening, BUPA.

Myth: Beer before wine and you’ll feel fine.
Fact: Rubbish. Mixing two or more different types of alcohol is simply a recipe for disaster.

Fast-acting Morning-After Pick-Me-Ups
Flagging over the photocopier? Here are five instant energy buzzes to counteract that interminable day-after-the-night-before:

• A banana: The mixture of three natural sugars—glucose, fructose, and sucrose—means that the energy is released more slowly and tends to be longer lasting.

• Wholewheat crackers: The carbohydrate will give you energy, but the presence of fiber means the rise in sugar and energy levels is slow and well controlled.

• A sports drink: Provides an ideal balance between fluid replacement and carbohydrate refueling. ‘Isotonic’ means the drink contains about the same concentration of dissolved particles as body fluids, so it can re-hydrate you faster than plain water.

• Dried apricots: Contain natural sugars for a quick energy boost similar to one from a bar of chocolate without the fat.

• Ginseng tea: Ginseng stimulates the production of testosterone. One cup and there’ll be no stopping you!

Why Hangovers Make You Feel Lousy

• Dehydration: Alcohol is a diuretic (it makes you go to the toilet frequently). That means you lose valuable fluids and body salts, which in turn deprives you of energy.

• Low blood sugar: Alcohol stimulates insulin production in the pancreas, which can cause tiredness, depression, anxiety, and irritability.

• Headaches: Many of the chemicals found in the darker, sweeter drinks (such as red wines) are the cause of headaches. The alcohol also dilates the blood vessels in the brain which can cause pain.

• Tiredness: Alcohol impairs refreshing REM sleep, so even if you’re comatose for 10 hours, you won’t feel rested.

• Nausea: Caused by an imbalance in the gastric system. “Over-consumption of alcohol also produces an excess of acetaldehyde, a potent toxin that upsets the system,” says Dr. James Schaeffer of Union College in America. “A hangover is a form of poisoning.”

Which Drinks Cause the Worse Hangovers?
According to Dr. Schaeffer, the worse culprits contain ‘congeners’—by-products of alcohol fermentation. The darker, sweeter tipples tend to be the most dangerous—the clearer liquors are purer.

1. Vodka

2. Gin

3. White wine

4. Beer

5. Bitters

6. Cider

7. Whiskey

8. Rum

9. Sherry

10. Brandy

11. Red wine

12. Port

5 Truly Amazing Hangover Cures

• The doctor’s cure. A pint of water with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar, which replace vital lost substances. Plus two anti-inflammatories (such as Nurofen) to reduce the swelling in your brain.

• The juice cure. Fruit juice helps flush your system of body toxins and re-hydrate it. Blend together eight ounces carrot juice, one ounce beet juice, four ounces celery juice, and one ounce parsley juice.

• The detox cure. Aloe vera detoxifying juice cleanses the liver and colon—it’s not to everyone’s taste, but it’s a hit at health food shops.

• The Coca-cola and fry-up cure. Both of these help simply because they immediately raise your blood sugar levels. However, in the long term, they are fattening and not healthy.

• The “wonder pill”. A kind of activated carbon, Sob’r-K is absorbed into the stomach and lower intestine, where it allegedly filters out the impurities. Available from www.hangovercure.com.