Regular exercise could reduce the severity of hangovers – here’s how

Regular workouts may help lessen the pain of those dreadful mornings. PintoArt/ Shutterstock by Athalie Redwood-Brown, Nottingham Trent University and Jen Wilson, Nottingham Trent University Most of us have been there: a night of fun turns into a morning of regret – complete with a pounding headache, nausea and fatigue. While there are plenty of supposed hangover “cures” out there – from eating a greasy breakfast to the ill-advised “hair-of-the-dog” – a recent paper suggests that regular exercise may be the key to alleviating these dreadful mornings. The study, published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, involved 1,676 undergraduate students who had experienced at least one hangover in the past three months. All participants did at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity per week. They completed online questionnaires assessing their alcohol consumption patterns, physical activity levels and the frequency and severity of hangover symptoms. Activity levels were scored by calculating the intensity of the activity against the number of hours. The findings indicated a significant association between physical activity and hangover symptoms. Unsurprisingly, people who consumed more alcohol experienced hangovers more frequently and with greater severity. But, these associations were reduced in people who engaged in vigorous physical activity (such...