Prevent a Hangover with Potato Chips
Recently, I heard from a friend that the best way to prevent a hangover is to eat a bunch of potato chips before going out. While certainly not the healthiest method, after a few weekends of experimentation I’ve found it works pretty well!
Potato chips aren’t the only part of the formula though. In this post I will cover why eating potato chips may work, and other tips to prevent hangovers you can combine with the potato tip trick to result in a happy morning.
Why does this work?
While I’m not a scientist, I can think of two reasons why eating potato chips may help you avoid your hangover.
The first is related to the fact that hangovers are often caused by dehydration. One way to prevent your body from expelling a lot of liquids is to have a lot of salt in your body. Your body needs the extra water to dilute the salt, so you won’t go to the bathroom quite as frequently. And potato chips, of course, are very salty. Again, though, it should be noted that this is not an extremely healty method. It all depends where your priorities are.
The second reason why this might work is just that having food in your stomach (any food really) before you go out will slow the absorption of alcohol. As this happens, your liver will have a bit of a lead on your stomach in filtering out the alcohol, making you less drunk less quickly - and hopefully less sick in the morning.
Additional tips
There are a few other things I always do in order to avoid that nasty hangover.
- I drink water before I go out for the night
- I drink a glass of water in between alcoholic drinks
- I drink A LOT of water when I get home
- I drink water if I wake up too early in the morning and plan to go back to bed for a bit
Notice a common thread in those tips?
I’m happy to say that using the methods above I have avoided hangovers all year (and that includes one heavy night of drinking after one tragic game against Appalachian State).
Do you have any other crazy hangover prevention methods or cures? Leave them in the comments. Let me know if they’ve worked for you. Or, if you haven’t ever tried them, I can be your lab rat and then post the results 
Oh, and always remember to drink responsibly!
September 18th, 2007 at 12:54 am
I actually did a post on this a few weeks back. It’s pretty much all I can offer on the subject - but you’re right - eating and staying hydrated are essential.
http://www.scholastici.us/2007/08/27/drinking-in-college/
September 18th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
I feel left out…
Just wait 4 years, then I will post something similar!
p.s. a bunch of student productivity bloggers have gotten Pownce, and we are thinking of using it to communicate. I just wanted to invite you if you don’t already have it. I couldn’t find a contact email on your blog, but if you send me an email, I can send you an invite.
Geoff