Sloshed? Sozzled? Stoned? Saved!

The hangover is something that the teetotaler will never understand. Some of you reading this will, however, know that this feeling that ranges from unpleasantness to extreme unpleasantness is not only a real physiological and psychological bummer, but it is also a rather apt metaphor for life — especially life that has been 2016.

Caused as hangovers are from the excessive consumption of ethanol, it is not as if drinkers are unaware about what is coming around the bender.

The next few days, the boom and bust phenomenon will not just apply to economies but also to individuals. And we are the species best suited to try to minimise the forthcoming damage.

So, traditional remedies like re hydration — a fancy way of saying drinking a lot of water — sleeping the beast off and having a fat-ful meal to soak up alcohol spill are worthwhile, even if the placebo effect will be at work if successful.

The other remedy would be to have the proverbial hair of the dog, the drink that will take away the edge off the hangover.

Ernest Hemingway, always a pundit on matters alcoholic, would rely ‘the morning after’ on tomato juice and beer. Other less famous drinkers have taken a small amount of the same beverage that brought on the hangover. What you do to have a happy January 1 morning could determine the hard science of hanging hangovers.