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

你昨晚多喝了点，现在一早醒来，可怕的宿醉开始袭来。

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.

昨晚一时的欢乐如今却让你的双手颤抖，你的头剧痛，你的心脏加速，更别提晕眩、恶心、呕吐、畏光和极度口渴等其他不适症状。

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.

你为什么会感觉难受？因为你喝下的酒正在你的身体内翻江倒海，导致脱水、胃痛和炎症。在你的身体排出酒精的同时，这些不适达到了顶峰。

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.

目前还没有科学证明的方法可以治疗宿醉，但专家指出，你可以预防宿醉，或将宿醉的不适感降到最低。

Drink on a full stomach

吃饱了再喝酒

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.

专家指出，不要喝了一夜酒才吃夜宵，那时候就太晚了。你应该在喝酒前就吃饭，在喝酒之时也要进食。

"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.

位于美国罗得岛州普罗维登斯市的布朗大学沃伦·阿尔伯特医学院精神病学和人类行为系教授罗伯特·斯威夫特博士称：“胃里的食物可以减慢胃排空的速度，从而降低宿醉症状。”

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

为什么吃东西对缓解宿醉有用？斯威夫特指出，因为大多数酒精没有被空胃吸收，而是通过胃下方的肠道排出。

“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.

从20世纪90年代以来就一直研究酗酒的斯威夫特称：“现在酒精在胃中被稀释，只有少量酒精被胃吸收。”

Stay hydrated

补充水分

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，同样的原理也适用于水和其他非酒精饮料。“如果酒精和液体混在一起，就会被稀释，这样在进入肠道时就不会刺激肠胃，也比较不容易让肠道或胃壁发炎。”

"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.

美国新泽西州罗格斯大学酒精研究中心前研究主管约翰·布里克博士指出：“宿醉的主要原因是脱水，以及体液、维生素和矿物质的流失。”

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，酒精引起的脱水可能会给女性造成更大影响，女性即使喝酒比男性少，也更容易遭遇宿醉。这是因为在身高体重相同的情况下，男性体液占比高于女性，所以等量酒精在男性体内被稀释得更多。

Pick beer, wine or spirits with fewer additives

选择啤酒、红酒或添加剂少的白酒

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.

我们喝的酒精也叫乙醇，是发酵的碳水化合物和淀粉（通常是谷物、葡萄或浆果）的副产品。

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.

酿酒商会为了让酒口感风味更佳而加入酒精同系物等化学物质，尽管添加量很少不会造成毒害，但有些人对这些化学物质很敏感。

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

专家表示，总体而言，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.)

据悉，化学添加剂亚硫酸盐会引发敏感人群的过敏反应。然而，许多啤酒和葡萄酒生产商会在产品中加入亚硫酸盐来延长保质期。（亚硫酸盐也被加入苏打水、麦片、甜味剂、罐头和超加工食品、药物等。）

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亚硫酸盐比红葡萄酒更多，但红葡萄酒含有更多丹宁酸。单宁酸是葡萄皮和葡萄籽中所含的苦涩化合物。和亚硫酸盐一样，单宁酸会引发敏感人群的过敏反应。

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

因此，只喝浅色啤酒和白葡萄酒可能有助于避免宿醉。

Abstain

别喝酒

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

专家指出，说到底，预防宿醉真正有效的方法只有一种，就是别喝酒。

"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：“引起宿醉多种症状的因素很多很复杂，因此没有简单的治疗之法。这就是为什么防止宿醉的唯一方法就是不喝酒或喝不足以引发宿醉的很少量的酒。”

但如果已经宿醉了，也是有办法可以缓解症状的。

3 ways to treat a hangover

治疗宿醉的3种方法

• Drinking coffee can speed up recovery

喝咖啡能加速复原

• Electrolytes help

喝电解质水也会有帮助

• Drink as much water as you can

尽量多喝水

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.

我们知道酒精会导致脱水，因此头痛和其他宿醉症状可能一部分是因为血管收缩和电解质以及身体所必需的钠、钙、钾等化学物质的流失。

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

用水或电解质运动饮料来补充流失的体液有助于加速从宿醉中复原过来。

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

尽管多数酒精是通过肝脏分解的，但有一小部分是通过流汗、排尿和呼吸排出身体的。

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

布里克说，起床后做一些轻度的伸展运动，走一走，多喝水来促进排尿。

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

他说：“在你睡觉前和醒来后，在你能接受的情况下尽量多喝水。”

英文来源：美国有线电视新闻网

翻译&编辑：丹妮