Wisdom of Healing

With New Year’s Eve in just a few days, it’s about time to take the necessary steps to assure a happy New Year’s Day, free of headache, upset stomach, aches, pain and an overall feeling of malaise. With this knowledge, you may then go out (or stay in) and enjoy your favorite celebratory beverages and feel just fine in the morning.

First, be sure you’re drinking enough water for your body’s needs. We should ideally drink half our body’s weight in ounces of fresh, filtered water every day. This means that a 150 lb person would consume 75 ounces of water daily. Now, let’s be clear about a common misunderstanding. This does NOT include the water that you use to make your tea, coffee, reconstituted juices, soups, etc. This means 75 oz (or approximately 9 eight-ounce glasses) of fresh, pure water that has nothing added! And, if you do drink coffee, tea (green or black), an alcoholic beverage or soda, there is something that you should be aware of. Because they can be dehydrating, you will need to drink one extra eight-ounce glass of water daily for every cup of coffee, tea, soda, wine, beer or shot of alcohol that you consume throughout your day!

You will ideally want to stay away from fruit, sugar and fruit juices for those few days prior to indulging in the bubbly (or your preferred alcoholic beverages). These foods acidify the body, setting it up for a greater possibility of imbalances, pain and illness.

Be sure that you eat a meal, but don’t overeat prior to drinking alcohol. You’ll want to have a well balanced meal, preferably rich in alkalizing vegetables. The more alkalizing vegetables include most root vegetables and dark leafy greens. Don’t overdo it with protein, but be sure you include a high quality protein source, such as fish, with your meal. Protein is more difficult to digest, so a smaller portion will leave you with more energy, and less likelihood of experiencing a hangover later or the next morning.

Miso vegetable soup is an excellent meal or component of a meal before a night out to celebrate. The salty flavor of the miso combined with the alkalizing vegetables helps to prevent the headaches or tummy upset often experienced after alcohol consumption.

Another preventive tip is to begin drinking approximately one to two hours after your meal, rather than drinking during or before dinner. This will give your body a chance to get the digestive processes well under way before it needs to deal with the processing of the alcohol.

Now, let’s discuss some effective tools for when you’ve been blessed with the nausea, headache, chills, aches and pains of drinking a bit too much for your body to handle. I have observed the following foods working to help the body with a wide variety of hangover symptoms.

Umeboshi plums are a Japanese pickled plum, available in most health food stores. They are very salty and quite strong in flavor. A tiny pinch of the flesh of the umeboshi plum is plenty, even for a ‘violent’ hangover. Beware; more is not better! Place the pinch of umeboshi between the gums and inner cheek and leave it there. Be sure to drink plenty of water both before and after using the plum. Repeat, if necessary, an hour later.

Swedish bitters, also sold at most health food stores, are used for virtually every digestive upset throughout Europe. Mix a serving of Swedish bitters with a glass of seltzer or soda water and sip until gone. Repeat, if desired, one to two hours later.

The following recipe may be made before bed or in the morning after the partaking of too much alcohol for the body to deal with. It is delicious, and in thirty years of use with my family and friends, I’ve never known it to fail!

Bring 1 cup (per person) of water to a simmer.
Add one umeboshi plum pit (with the flesh removed. Use only the pit, not the flesh. If only umeboshi plum paste is available, use a generous pinch of paste) per cup of water.
Simmer, covered, on low for 10 minutes.
Add a dash of real tamari per cup of water.
Simmer for 3 more minutes.
In a small dish, mix 1 rounded TBSP of kudzu (sometimes spelled ‘kuzu’) into a small amount of cold water.
Add to the simmering umeboshi tea, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. It will begin by looking chalky. You will know when it’s nearly done because it will become thicker and translucent.
Stir for one minute more.
Remove from heat, and let cool for approximately 30 minutes.
Grate fresh, organic ginger root.
Squeeze the juice from the grated ginger into the thickened tea mixture.
Add 1 teaspoon of ginger juice per cup of water and stir gently.
When it is cool enough to do so, sip one cup until gone.
Please be careful not to burn your lips and tongue, as this thickened drink will cling to them, just as a pudding or gravy might.

Happy New Year! Enjoy the celebration, and now you will have a greater chance of enjoying the morning after, as well!

Trackback URI | Comments RSS