The No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs are playing the unranked Florida Gators on Saturday in Jacksonville. Best known for its extravagant tailgates, the game is nationally recognized as the “world’s largest cocktail party.”
A weekend of partying might require preparation for the aches to come. This year’s game happens to be the day before Halloween, which for some might create a perfect storm for a three-day bender.
Friday beers commemorate a long work week. Saturday celebrates a long-time SEC football rivalry. Sunday night calls for Halloween parties.
“It’s going to be rough,” said Denvyr Tyler-Palmer, a certified nutritionist and registered dietitian student at Nova Southeastern University.
The best way to prepare, Tyler-Palmer said, is to stay hydrated with water and electrolyte-replenishing drinks. Eat a balanced diet with proper macronutrients, including fruits and vegetables.
“Alcohol is a diuretic, so it makes you pee,” Tyler-Palmer said. “As you continue to drink, you lose more nutrients. The hangover is basically dehydration.”
A common misconception about dehydration is that it stems from simply not drinking enough water, she said. People need sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, phosphate and magnesium, all essential nutrients that mainly come from sources outside of water, to stay properly hydrated. Sports drinks like Gatorade, Body Armor and Pedialyte are all good sources of these nutrients.
When the nutrient ratio is off it can lead to headaches, heart palpitations, light headedness and muscle weakness. Eating a nutrient rich meal before drinking is important because it helps metabolize the alcohol slower and reduce the likelihood of these symptoms.
Tyler-Palmer warned that when a person drinks on an empty stomach they do not have the nutrients needed to absorb the alcohol. This increases a person’s chance of getting sick or suffering from alcohol poisoning.
“You’ll get drunk really quick and keep drinking,” she said. “Your hangover will be way worse.”
Millions of people, even health experts have suffered the consequences of this at some point in their lives. Tyler-Palmer described her experience of what her mornings are like after a long night out.
“I’m sleeping and I wake up in the morning and my heart feels like it’s skipping a beat,” she said. “I know something went bad.”
There are additional precautions tailgaters and adult “trick-or-treaters” should be aware of when engaging in the Florida-Georgia and Halloween festivities, said Caroline Lamoutte, a second-year student at the University of Florida College of Medicine.
“We hear about how chaotic the ER can be on gamedays,” Lamoutte said. “...People are either too intoxicated or their intoxication leads them to engage in riskier activities, which causes a lot more injuries.”
Riskier activities include engaging in physical alterations, trespassing on unknown property or walking on ledges or staircases clumsily.
People should also take precautions when it comes to drinking and driving during festive weekends, especially for Florida-Georgia and Halloween, she said. Any day that is notorious for drinking poses more danger for accidents.
“One of my childhood best friends died on Halloween last year [in a car accident],” Lamoutte said.
She advises anyone to stay off the road if they can help it, even if they are sober.
When a hangover cannot be avoided or a weekend of festivities is the only option, Tyler-Palmer advised that the best way to recover is to rehydrate the next day and eat a balanced breakfast with nutrients including carbs, proteins, fats, fruits and vegetables.
“Do these things all day until you’re ready for round two,” she said. “Use Pedialyte. It’s like Gatorade on steroids.”