You had a little too much to drink last night, and now you’re nursing that dreaded morning aftermath — a hangover.

你昨晚多喝了點，現在一早醒來，可怕的宿醉開始襲來。

What seemed like fun at the time is now causing your hands to shake, your head to pound and your heart to race, not to mention other unpleasant symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity and excruciating thirst.

昨晚一時的歡樂如今卻讓你的雙手顫抖，你的頭劇痛，你的心臟加速，更別提暈眩、惡心、嘔吐、畏光和極度口渴等其他不適癥狀。

Why are you suffering? Because the liquor that smoothly passed your lips is now wreaking havoc in your body, causing dehydration, stomach distress and inflammation. These ailments peak about the time all the alcohol leaves your body.

你為什么會感覺難受？因為你喝下的酒正在你的身體內翻江倒海，導致脫水、胃痛和炎癥。在你的身體排出酒精的同時，這些不適達到了頂峰。

There is no scientifically proven way to cure a hangover, but experts say you can prevent one — or at least keep that morning-after misery to a minimum. Here’s how.

目前還沒有科學證明的方法可以治療宿醉，但專家指出，你可以預防宿醉，或將宿醉的不適感降到最低。

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Drink on a full stomach

吃飽了再喝酒

Forget a late-night meal after a night of drinking — that’s much too late, experts say. Instead, eat before your first drink and keep noshing as the night goes on.

專家指出，不要喝了一夜酒才吃夜宵，那時候就太晚了。你應該在喝酒前就吃飯，在喝酒之時也要進食。

"Food in the stomach slows gastric emptying and can reduce hangover symptoms,” said Dr. Robert Swift, a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island.

位于美國羅得島州普羅維登斯市的布朗大學沃倫·阿爾伯特醫學院精神病學和人類行為系教授羅伯特·斯威夫特博士稱：“胃里的食物可以減慢胃排空的速度，從而降低宿醉癥狀?！?/p>

Why does food help? Because most alcohol isn’t absorbed by an empty stomach but via the intestinal tract just below it, Swift said.

為什么吃東西對緩解宿醉有用？斯威夫特指出，因為大多數酒精沒有被空胃吸收，而是通過胃下方的腸道排出。

“Now the alcohol is diluted in the stomach, and only a small quantity of alcohol is absorbed at any time,” said Swift, who has studied alcohol abuse since the 1990s.

從20世紀90年代以來就一直研究酗酒的斯威夫特稱：“現在酒精在胃中被稀釋，只有少量酒精被胃吸收?！?/p>

Stay hydrated

補充水分

The same principle applies to water and other nonalcoholic beverages, Swift said. “If alcohol is mixed with fluid, it’s diluted, so when it goes into your intestines, it’s not as irritating. You’re less likely to have inflamed intestines or an inflamed stomach lining.”

斯威夫特指出，同樣的原理也適用于水和其他非酒精飲料。“如果酒精和液體混在一起，就會被稀釋，這樣在進入腸道時就不會刺激腸胃，也比較不容易讓腸道或胃壁發炎?！?/p>

"The primary cause of hangovers is dehydration and the loss of fluids, along with vitamins and minerals,” said Dr. John Brick, former chief of research at the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

美國新澤西州羅格斯大學酒精研究中心前研究主管約翰·布里克博士指出：“宿醉的主要原因是脫水，以及體液、維生素和礦物質的流失?！?/p>

Dehydration from alcohol may affect a woman even more, and she is more likely to suffer a hangover, even if she drinks less than a man, Swift said. That’s because a man has a higher percentage of body water than a woman of the same height and weight, so the same amount of alcohol will be more diluted in a man, he said.

斯威夫特指出，酒精引起的脫水可能會給女性造成更大影響，女性即使喝酒比男性少，也更容易遭遇宿醉。這是因為在身高體重相同的情況下，男性體液占比高于女性，所以等量酒精在男性體內被稀釋得更多。

Pick beer, wine or spirits with fewer additives

選擇啤酒、紅酒或添加劑少的白酒

The alcohol we drink, called ethyl alcohol or ethanol, is the byproduct of fermenting carbohydrates and starches, usually some sort of grain, grape or berry.

我們喝的酒精也叫乙醇，是發酵的碳水化合物和淀粉（通常是谷物、葡萄或漿果）的副產品。

Chemicals like congeners are added by manufacturers for flavor and taste. While they are added in small, nontoxic amounts, some people are overly sensitive to their effects.

釀酒商會為了讓酒口感風味更佳而加入酒精同系物等化學物質，盡管添加量很少不會造成毒害，但有些人對這些化學物質很敏感。

Overall, dark-colored beer and spirits tend to contain more congeners and thus may be more likely to cause hangovers, experts say.

專家表示，總體而言，深色啤酒和白酒通常含有更多酒精同系物，因此可能更容易引起宿醉。

Chemical preservatives called sulfites, known to cause allergic reactions in sensitive people. However, many manufacturers of beer and wine add sulfites to their products to extend shelf life. (Sulfites are also added to soda, cereals, sweeteners, canned and ultraprocessed foods, medications and more.)

據悉，化學添加劑亞硫酸鹽會引發敏感人群的過敏反應。然而，許多啤酒和葡萄酒生產商會在產品中加入亞硫酸鹽來延長保質期。（亞硫酸鹽也被加入蘇打水、麥片、甜味劑、罐頭和超加工食品、藥物等。）

Sweet and white wines tend to have more sulfites than red, but red wines contain more tannins, which are bitter or astringent compounds found in the skin and seeds of grapes. Like sulfites, tannins can trigger allergic reactions in people who are sensitive.

甜酒和白葡萄酒通常含的亞硫酸鹽比紅葡萄酒更多，但紅葡萄酒含有更多丹寧酸。單寧酸是葡萄皮和葡萄籽中所含的苦澀化合物。和亞硫酸鹽一樣，單寧酸會引發敏感人群的過敏反應。

As a result, limiting your drinking to light beers and white wine might help keep hangovers at bay.

因此，只喝淺色啤酒和白葡萄酒可能有助于避免宿醉。

Abstain

別喝酒

In the end, however, experts say there is only one true preventive — or cure — for a hangover: Don’t drink.

專家指出，說到底，預防宿醉真正有效的方法只有一種，就是別喝酒。

"There’s no simple cure because there are so many complex factors that are producing the multiple symptoms of a hangover,” Swift said. “And that’s why the only real cure for a hangover is to not drink alcohol or drink such a low amount of alcohol that it won’t trigger a hangover.”

斯威夫特表示：“引起宿醉多種癥狀的因素很多很復雜，因此沒有簡單的治療之法。這就是為什么防止宿醉的唯一方法就是不喝酒或喝不足以引發宿醉的很少量的酒?！?/p>

但如果已經宿醉了，也是有辦法可以緩解癥狀的。

3 ways to treat a hangover

治療宿醉的3種方法

? Drinking coffee can speed up recovery

喝咖啡能加速復原

? Electrolytes help

喝電解質水也會有幫助

? Drink as much water as you can

盡量多喝水

We know that alcohol dehydrates, so a headache and other hangover symptoms may be partly due to constricted blood vessels and a loss of electrolytes, essential minerals such as sodium, calcium and potassium that your body needs.

我們知道酒精會導致脫水，因此頭痛和其他宿醉癥狀可能一部分是因為血管收縮和電解質以及身體所必需的鈉、鈣、鉀等化學物質的流失。

Replacing lost fluids with water or a type of sports drink with extra electrolytes can help boost recovery from a hangover, Swift said.

用水或電解質運動飲料來補充流失的體液有助于加速從宿醉中復原過來。

And while most alcohol is handled by the liver, a small amount leaves the body unchanged through sweat, urine and breathing.

盡管多數酒精是通過肝臟分解的，但有一小部分是通過流汗、排尿和呼吸排出身體的。

Get up, do some light stretching and walking, and drink plenty of water to encourage urination, Brick said.

布里克說，起床后做一些輕度的伸展運動，走一走，多喝水來促進排尿。

"Before you go to sleep and when you wake up, drink as much water as you comfortably can handle,” he said.

他說：“在你睡覺前和醒來后，在你能接受的情況下盡量多喝水?！?/p>