WASHINGTON – Whether or not your team is playing, Super Bowl Sunday is a time for partying. And after all the heavy eating and drinking comes the morning pain.
“The number one thing you have to do is rehydrate with water,” says Jennifer Shea, a registered dietitian with the Shoppers grocery chain.
Try plain water with citrus slices or peppermint tea, which has no caffeine and is good for an achy head and a stomach dealing with an overload of fat and sodium.
Shea also suggests a virgin bloody mary made with low sodium tomato juice and some hot sauce for those who can handle the heat.
“If you can take spicy foods, the spice will actually help distract you from the hangover because you will have this hot sensation on your taste buds so you are not thinking of how bad you feel,” Shea says.
Another option is a mango smoothie is full of fiber and rich in vitamins.
“The vitamins A and C are important for skin health and your skin is probably not looking so good Monday morning,” Shea says.
Shea says a lot of people try to atone for bad eating behavior on Super Bowl Sunday by fasting the next day. But “you need to refuel and start your day off with some breakfast.”
It can be yogurt, or some fruit and nuts or even a banana. Shea says if you cannot handle breakfast when you first wake up, then take it to work with you and eat it when you can.
“You need something in that stomach to get that metabolism going for the day,” she says.
Here are Shea’s recipes for the virgin bloody mary and the mango smoothie.
Virgin Bloody Mary
Ingredients: 5oz low-sodium tomato juice, half a lime, 1 dash hot sauce, 1 dash Worcestershire sauce, 1 dash pepper and ice cubes
Directions: Add ice to a tall glass. Pour tomato juice over the ice. Add hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lime and pepper. Stir well to combine. Makes 1 serving.
Mango Smoothie
Ingredients: 6 ounces honey flavored Greek yogurt, 2 cups frozen mango chunks, 6oz soy milk and half a teaspoon of cardamom
Directions: In a blender, add yogurt, mango pulp, soy milk and cardamom. Blend. Pour into glasses and enjoy! Makes 2 servings.
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