First, a little high school anatomy can't hurt. Most of the symptoms that arise from a night of binge drinking are due to your body’s response to the state of dehydration you drank it into. Your body tries to restore the delicate balance of water by sucking it out of various tissue cells. So a bunch of brain, muscle, and nerve cells have to give up their water reserves and as a consequence can’t function all that well. Get enough cells to stop working for awhile and the results are soon evident. In addition, while you were pissing away your body’s water reserves you were also cramming in a bunch of toxins that had a little after-hours party in your liver. (Note: Certain drinks like red wines, rums, whiskeys, and most of your cheaper brands have higher concentrations of toxins in them, so try a nice vodka) Now your liver has the daunting task of metabolizing all that over-priced liquor you bought on your parent’s credit card. This causes your blood to become more acidic than normal (this is called acidosis), and filled to the rim with another toxin that is a biproduct of alcohol breakdown called acetaldehyde (which your body hates). Put all of these lovely agents together and you get the typical symptoms of a hangover which include but are not limited to: headache, nausea, vomiting, ringing of the ears, increased heart rate, excessive thirst, anxiety, insomnia, unsteadiness, dizziness (bed spins), diaphoresis (sweating), shakiness, muscle cramping, sluggish movements and an overall miserable feeling that you share over breakfast with your new friend from last nights party who’s name you can’t remember.

Now let’s talk about how to ease your morning-after hangover even though not much can save you completely at this point. First, you need to drink water.  A good idea is to have a glass or two before you go to sleep. Even better, order a bottle of water at the bar between rounds and grab one for the cab rides to the next bar. Either way, you need to get ready for the big morning drought. Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach will set you up for a hell of a morning so it’s a great idea to wash a healthy meal down before the first round.

Now, say you completely ignored the steps above and just decided to stumble home and pass out in your fancy clothes. You have to spend the entire morning doing next day damage control and still need to hydrate so start with water, Gatorade, or if you woke up on the bathroom floor you might want to run down to the grocery store and get some Pedialite from the baby aisle. At this point you’re probably reaching for a bottle of aspirin. It's an easy fix, but if your calendar has a bunch of birthday parties and open bar wedding invites on it, you might want to think about the long-term effects that over the counter pain relievers can have on your stomach and liver. A more natural approach to the at-home treatment of hangover headaches involves brewing up some tea with ginger and/or peppermint. Numerous clinical studies have shown that ginger can be used to relieve headaches by relaxing the blood vessels in the head and diminishing swelling in the brain. It also activates natural opiates in the brain that relieve pain, and reduces prostaglandins, which are responsible for causing inflammation. Stir in some honey for an even greater calming effect and your stomach will thank you for it.  For some of the more intense cases, try a supplement called feverfew which can be found in most health food stores. You can also apply a light massage of certain acupressure points. These spots can be located at the top of the nose in the area between the eyes, on the forehead just above the middle of each eyebrow, over the temples, and in the fleshy web between the thumbs and first fingers. If that doesn't work, then try some goldenseal, or some homeopathic remedies like Colchicum and Nux vomica (read directions carefully).

There are a number of natural hangover remedy pills in grocery and liquor stores that can also be of some help. One such pill is called Chaser. Chaser is a patent-pending formula of activated calcium carbonate and vegetable carbon (activated charcoal). Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in most calcium supplements and antacids. Vegetable carbon has been used for centuries to absorb toxins and is still used in hospitals today. Both ingredients are Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the FDA. It doesn't work for everybody and it doesn’t mean you can drink more, so use these kinds of remedies with care.

Now we need to replace some of the good stuff you recently flushed out of your system (pun intended). Get some B-complex and C vitamin pills. Vitamin C helps reduce the effects of alcohol toxicity on the body. The B vitamins also help to calm and strengthen the nervous system, reduce the toxic effects of alcohol and stop cravings for more. You also need to get things like potassium and magnesium into your health food cart. Potassium is a great tool in trying to re-establish water balance. Depleted magnesium causes shaking, nervousness and tension associated with a hangover, and therefore should be supplemented. Don’t want to hang out with all the hippies at the health store, then just make yourself a fresh fruit salad and don’t forget the bananas. Some final home remedies that can only help the situation are things like warm baths, cold compresses, chicken soup, and sipping warm 7-up.

There are also things you should avoid because they’ll only make matters worse.  Pass on the coffee in the morning because it’s a diuretic. On that same note, stay out of the sun and reschedule your (insert newest workout fade here) lessons for the day because you need to conserve energy and water. Smoking intensifies the problem because of the additional toxins and further dehydration it causes. Lack of sleep makes you more susceptible. Last, you might want to think about the current status of your immune system before bouncing from bar to bar. If you immune system is shot from a strenuous week, then you might want to re-evaluate going to happy hour.

The one sure way to prevent a hangover is to not drink in the first place. Yes it’s lame, it makes it harder to enjoy the company of your friends, and it won’t make the voices go away. But, that might be the solution for those of you that get severe symptoms from a night of drinking. You could be allergic to certain substances in any type of liquor and therefore any home remedy won’t work. Or even worse, you may have to come to terms with the fact that you have a "problem."

Note: Read the labels, talk to your primary care physician, and discontinue any treatment should symptoms arise or intensify.  The above is only offered as a recommendation and should note replace the advice of your personal physician. It is intended to encourage you and your doctor to have a conversation about more natural treatment options for any ailment.