Here’s a tip for a healthy and happy New Year’s Eve
Bob’s Your Uncle!
New year, new decade – well who could blame you if you hoisted a few to wish friends and family a healthy and prosperous trip through another four seasons?
As a UK friend of mine used to say whenever starting a new pint: “Bob’s your uncle!”
But if you should finally get ready to turn in tonight and sense that you’ve enjoyed just a few too many pints or chardonnays, here’s a tip to start the new year right: Don’t take acetaminophen or aspirin before going to bed.
To get past a hangover, alcohol has to be fully processed and eliminated from your body. But acetaminophen and aspirin can delay the process, extending the period of your hangover and getting your year off to a rough start.
Even worse, your liver can be dangerously stressed when alcohol and acetaminophen are combined. And here’s where you have to be very careful.
Let’s say, for instance, that a woman comes down with a cold over Christmas. She begins taking daily doses of an over-the-counter cold medication that contains acetaminophen. Her congested sinuses are causing headaches, so for a few days she also takes several tablets of extra- strength Tylenol (active ingredient: acetaminophen).
On New Year’s Eve she’s feeling better, so she gets together with friends and has a few drinks. At bedtime, to head off a hangover, she swallows three or four Tylenol tablets. She wakes up on New Year’s Day feeling like she might be coming down with a flu (but it’s actually liver toxicity). So she takes some more Tylenol. Then she fixes a cup of coffee.
If her liver had a “maintenance required” light, it would be flashing furiously right about now.
So take good care of yourself (and your liver) tonight. If you overdo it, make sure to drink plenty of water before you go to bed…just without the acetaminophen chaser.
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
