The only real cure for getting over a hangover is time because your body needs to process the alcohol, but this yummy tropical watermelon smoothie can help alleviate the intensity of your hangover by replenishing nutrients, and making you feel refreshed.
First, let’s talk about the science of hangovers. According to drinkaftershot.com, the three main culprits of a hangover are dehydration, electrolyte imbalance and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Dehydration is the cause behind the massive headache and dry mouth.
Sound familiar?
Well that’s because you peed (or vomited) out most of your body’s water reserves, so when you wake up the next morning, you basically feel like hell.
Electrolyte imbalance happens just as dehydration does: when you dispose of all of the alcohol you’ve been drinking via bodily fluids.
You’re not only getting rid of water, but also essential ions that help conduct electrical activity in your body (think of the nervous system).
Having foods or drinks high in electrolytes, particularly sodium and potassium, can help reduce those unwanted feelings of nausea, fatigue and headaches Finally, we have hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia occurs when you don’t have enough sugar in your blood.
When you eat foods with sugar in it, the sugar is turned into glucose for energy, and the excess glucose is stored in the liver in a form known as glycogen.
The glycogen is converted back to glucose whenever you need that extra boost of energy. When you drink, your liver processes the alcohol, and ends up using most of your glycogen reserves for that.
Because your liver uses up so much glycogen, it doesn’t have enough left to distribute to the rest of your body. Since your brain is mostly fueled by glucose and your glycogen reserves have been depleted, you’ll feel tired and won’t be able to concentrate.
So how does this magical fruit smoothie help?
For starters, this smoothie doesn’t only contain watermelon. It also contains mango, banana and yogurt. Watermelons are very high in water content. In fact, they contain 141 grams of water per serving, and one serving is 154 grams. That’s 91.5 percent water!
Watermelons are also a good source of vitamin B1, which is crucial for helping your body overcome a hangover. Vitamin B1, also known as Thiamine, helps with your metabolism. When your body metabolizes the alcohol, it uses up a lot of your Thiamine reserves.
The next day, your body won’t have enough Thiamine to process the rest of the alcohol, so the alcohol ends up staying in your system even longer.
Mangos also contain Thiamine, but they are an even better source of vitamin C and fructose. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, so it helps detoxify alcohol, and boost your immune system.
Fructose is a type of sugar which, once it digests, becomes glucose, and gives you that much-needed energy, so you can be ready to face the day. Bananas are an excellent source of the electrolyte potassium. Also, they contain glucose which will go straight to your system and give you a quick energy boost.
While the yogurt is primarily used to thicken the smoothie, it is another great source of Thiamine. Doesn’t this smoothie sound like an oasis in the middle of your terrible hangover that left you wanting for water? That’s because it is. Let’s get started!
What you’ll need:
1 Slice of watermelon (cubed)
Half a mango (cubed)
Half a peeled
and sliced banana
3-4 ice cubes
2-3 spoonfuls of yogurt
Blender
Step-by-Step
1. Dice the watermelon and mango into small cubes.
2. Peel half a banana and slice it up.
3. Put all of the fruit in the blender with ice and yogurt.
4. Blend all ingredients in a blender to make a frothy smoothie!
Tara Temkar can be reached at taratemkar.minaret@gmail.com.