January 1st is National Bloody Mary Day
Happy New Year! As the cries ring out just after midnight, you may feel a horrible, sinking sensation that you will not spend the day happy at all. Well, actually, you’re not likely to realize that for a few hours. It happens. Unless you’ve been nominated as a designated driver, or you’re the type to crawl into bed at 10 pm on New Year’s Eve, there’s a fair chance you’ll get carried away by the holiday spirit and find yourself imbibing one too many. That’s why the Bloody Mary was created. Unsurprisingly, New Year’s Day is also National Bloody Mary Day, and that’s something to celebrate.
What Are Hangovers and Why Do We Get Them?
Your body needs an obscene amount of water to function at optimum levels. Really. Water is used for every major bodily function, and many of those processes stop when you don’t have enough H2O in your system (including your metabolism). Alcohol is a diuretic. When you drink, you’re effectively telling your body that urinating is its primary function, thereby relieving yourself of all that vital water.
While we all know that we’re supposed to drink plenty of water when we have alcohol, most people forget after a drink or two. After all, you don’t feel bad; in fact, you probably feel fantastic. The next morning, your brain catches up and recognizes the lack of water. This results in headaches and general soreness. That’s a hangover. While the term doesn’t inherently include the bruises incurred from falling off the table you were dancing on or the frightful embarrassment you feel when you recall the words that came out of your mouth, you can bet those tend to crop up with hangovers too.
Can a Bloody Mary Cure Your Hangover?
Unless you’re a complete teetotaler, you’re bound to have a few hangovers in your life. Usually, they become less frequent with experience (but that totally depends on your ability to handle alcohol), but one will spring up every now and again. Though there is nothing you can do to cure a hangover but give it time, there are a few things that help.
For a start, taking a shower usually helps to get the smell of alcohol off your body, and you’re likely to feel a little disgusting until you’ve done just that. Sleep, or at least taking it easy, will help your body to recover faster; vigorous activity (such as cleaning up after a party) will take the focus off the healing process.
Then there is a process of rehydrating your body and giving it some nutrients to speed you to recovery. That’s where the Bloody Mary enters the picture. It’s filled with tomato juice and all those electrolytes which help you to retain water better. Typically, a Bloody Mary also lines your stomach nicely for all the carb-rich food you should be eating to restore your body to its optimum state of being. Then, there is the Vodka. This should help to take the edge off your pains as it dulls the senses a bit and gives your body the sugar it has been craving since your last swig.
Finally, the essential Bloody Mary ingredient is a good hot sauce. This is the magic touch; the capsaicin tells your brain to release endorphins and serotonin which is what you really need. It’s the stuff that helps you get through the trauma of what you said and did the night before.
All that said, we hope your National Bloody Mary Day is the best it can be! To make it so, we do suggest celebrating with these Mad Dog 357 Blazin’ Bloody Mary’s. They’re delicious no matter what condition you’re in – so they could just be your go-to New Year’s drink.
On that note, we’d like to wish you a happy 2015! May it be your spiciest, happiest year yet!