A hangover is something that anyone who drinks alcohol will have experienced at some point in time.

After spending a night drinking, you may wake up in the morning with your head feeling heavy and your stomach in knots.

At that moment, you probably decided that you would never drink again, to prevent yourself from feeling like this ever again. No matter how hard you may have tried though, chances are that it happened again.

Even though we all know that alcohol can lead to hangovers, what many people don’t know is that a hangover can be caused by a combination of two factors.

Alcohol has to be metabolized by the liver. This requires the liver to draw on the body’s stores of water, energy, vitamins and minerals. This may eventuate in the drinker waking in the morning feeling like they have no energy, feeling lethargic, and wanting to sleep, as well as having an irritated stomach, caused by the reactive properties of the alcohol on the stomach’s lining.

The other main contributing factor to a hangover, and this is a killer, is a little thing called “Fusel Oil.”

Fusel oil is produced as a byproduct of alcohol production. It makes the drinker feel nauseous while causing vomiting and stomach pains. It occurs in beer, wine, port and any other non distilled drink. Fusel oil also occurs in spirits, but distillers will often try to remove it from the drink, by carefully monitoring the distillation temperature and only collecting the alcohol, the fusel oil can be removed. By removing fusel oil from spirit, the spirit’s value increases. Hence, top shelf liquor tends to cost more, as it tastes better and contains less fusel oil than ‘run of the mill’ liquor.

Alcohol does have some positive effects on the body, but in excessive quantities, it can be deadly. Some doctors actually recommend it, while others discourage its use.

Even though drinking can be fun, moderation is the key.

The easiest way to avoid hangovers is to drink in moderation.

Whisky, bourbon, and wine can result in a much harder hangover than vodka or beer. This is because vodka is usually produced through advanced distillation methods, while beer tends to contain lower alcohol volumes.

It has been proven that the headaches associated with hangovers stem from dehydration. With alcohol being a diuretic, it will make you urinate quite often, as well as causing your body to react in a way similar to if you slowly poisoned it, causing your organs to work harder, and require more water to function.

Therefore, if you drink alcohol or beer on a daily basis, your body will remain dehydrated. When you wake up in the morning with a bad headache and turn to coffee, which is also a diuretic, the process of dehydration actually gets worse.

You’ll also need to do something with the alcohol that has been left in your body. Even though a hangover can make you want to stay in bed, the secret to getting yourself back on track is movement. To rid your body of the alcohol, you’ll need to sweat. Sweating removes the toxins from the body, and helps you to feel better.

Exercise or have sex to get rid of a hangover, as the exercise will help your body to process the poisons.

Although a hangover can be a bugbear, it can be prevented.

The first rule of drinking any type of alcoholic beverage is to never drink on an empty stomach.

Eat a good meal before you start drinking. You will find that the food can help you digest the alcohol slower.

When the alcohol is in your stomach, eat foods that are high in fat, such as cheese, or fried food. You can also sip some olive oil or drink some water, although this may make you feel sicker.

The secret to making sure that you don’t get a hangover when drinking is to drink in moderation and never let yourself get too drunk.

If you have to mix beer with other drinks like cocktails and spirits, remember this rhyme. It will remind you what to drink early in the night, and what to drink later. The rhyme goes; “Liquor before beer, never fear. Beer before Liquor, never sicker.”

What this means is that, early in the night, the body is fresh and tolerant, and will handle spirits. But after a night of drinking, the body must resort to drinks containing less alcohol.

Darren Williger is a tea drinking, guitar playing, meditating, wine making sales maker who writes for WineSatori.com, HomemadeWine.com, and WineCreator.com.