England is in the finals of the Euros, the first time they’re in a major tournament final for 55 years! So, naturally, the country felt delicate, to say the least. In fact, Google searches for ‘hangover cure’ spiked 50% from the start of the semi-final match against Denmark to 6 am the following morning.
Prior to the match, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) estimated England supporters would buy 50,000 drinks a minute, or 6.8 million in total, over the course of the two-hour game. Shockingly, that figure only represents pints bought, so if we were to include every alcoholic drink bought it would surely be a lot higher.
We know it’s bittersweet, having the time of your life only to crash the next morning. That’s why we’ve got you covered for the morning after the Euro finals with a list of foods to satisfy the cravings. That way, all you need to focus on is getting the rounds in and chanting ‘it’s coming home’ as though your life depends on it.
It’s coming home: food edition
We took to Instagram and found the top 15 fail-safe, sore head curing, lifesaving foods we turn to in our time of need.
- Pizza - #55,796,144
- Eggs - #14,174,284
- Takeaway - #5,609,320
- Cereal - #2,187,350
- Orange juice - #1,753,109
- Green juice - #1,534,041
- Hash browns - #597,341
- Full English - #219,016
- Hair of the dog - #208,541
- Lucozade - #99,811
- Full English breakfast - #78,621
- Beans on toast - #61,185
- Bacon sandwich - #51,171
- Sausage sandwich - #23,675
- Cold pizza - #19,845
1 “When you drink alcohol your blood sugar decreases, and this can make you particularly hungry and crave certain foods which are high in sugar, fat, and carbs as these are the most efficient ways to get calories into the body quickly. Drinking alcohol means your body is experiencing several changes and this affects the types of foods you crave. Alcohol consumption can mean that your brain releases galanin which is a neurochemical that promotes the need for fatty foods, which explains why you want fast food style foods such as pizza, Chinese, and burgers.
Furthermore, dehydration can also make us crave greasy fatty foods. This is because alcohol reduces levels of the anti-diuretic hormone in the bloodstream, and when there’s less of this in the blood the kidneys don’t reabsorb as much water and your body produces more urine, which is why you are dehydrated in the morning after a heavy night. The dehydration only means we are craving for salty food is heightened”.
When nursing a sore head, many of us turn to the hair of the dog and greasy food to satisfy our cravings. But they might be doing more damage than good to your recovery. Greasy foods can upset a sensitive stomach. Instead, fill up on greasy, stodgy food before drinking to slow down the absorption of alcohol and help lessen the sore head in the morning.
Of course, having a freshly washed, plump hotel-esque duvet to cocoon yourself into helps you feel better! Better yet, we might even have an emergency bank holiday on Monday 12th July so there really is no excuse not to have a self-care day after the finals!
What are you predicting the final score to be? Let us know on Twitter.
Credit to @england on Instagram
Methodology: Bed Guru gathered Instagram searches for each of the above hashtags and ranked them in order of the people’s favourite sore head remedies. This information was sourced from Express, Buzzfeed, and Instagram.
- Giuseppe Aragona, GP, and Online Doctor for Prescription Doctor