Don’t let coming year be one long 2021 hangover!
The ‘average’ UK adult will spend £42 on comfort food to help them get over a hangover – equivalent to around £1,000 a year – new research has revealed.
Timely New Year warning confirms we are on average likely to be in a hungover state for 864 hours a year ... exactly 36 days!
More than 2,400 UKbased adults, all over the age of 18 years, took part in the study to see how hangovers affect the average person in the UK.
It was initially found that adults have an average eight alcoholic drinks per week
(32 per month) and they will experience on average two hangovers per month (24 a year) with the average hangover lasting a very uncomfortable 36 hours.
Just four per cent of respondents were lucky enough to state that they ‘never’ experience a hangover.
The most common symptoms were found to be dehydration (79 per cent), nausea (55 per cent) and headaches (40 per cent). Of those who feel nauseous, 28 per cent have been known to be sick after a night of drinking, while almost half (46 per cent) admit to having been sick the following day during the hangover phase.
It was found that the average person needs to consume six or more drinks, one after the other, in order to feel some effects the following day.
Asked what they do when they get home after a night out, the majority go straight to bed (36 per cent), while others choose to eat junk food (30 per cent) or stay up and watch TV (17 per cent). Just one in four (25 per cent) drink water and take some paracetamol or ibuprofen before hitting the hay.
The team at www.survivorlife.com, a food supplement aiming to minimise the damage caused by alcohol, conducted the research as part of an ongoing study.
During the hangover phase, it was found that the average UK adult will spend £42 on comfort food, including takeaways, snacks and drinks to help get them through.
Following on from this, the go-to favourites meals were found to be a fry-up – 24 per cent, McDonald’s meal – 18 per cent, KFC meal – 15 per cent, toast – 13 per cent, roast dinner – nine per cent.
Similarly, the top drinks were found to be fruit juice (34 per cent), water (33 per cent) and caffeine (16 per cent). Just seven per cent admit that they regularly turn to ‘hair of the dog’ drink to try to lessen their symptoms.
Taking into account the average hangover duration and the number of hangovers per year, this means that the average UK adult lives in a hungover state for 864 hours a year or exactly 36 days.
With an average spend of £42 on comfort food during each hangover phase, that totals an average annual spend of £1,008 on comfort food following a few drinks.
Laurence Cardwell, CEO and Co-founder of www. survivorlife.com, said: “A pleasant drink can be a marvellous thing. However, 36 days a year is a long time to be hungover, and when you take into consideration the costs of purchasing the alcohol and £1,000 a year spent on comfort food too, it’s an expensive pastime. Together, that is a lot of lost time and money.”
Survivor adviser Prof Dr Gertrude Kubiena said: “Drinking alcohol in any quantity can be very harmful to the human body. While there are products on the market that can help reduce the negative effects of alcohol consumption, we would always advise taking precautions when drinking and to drink responsibly, not only reducing your risk of waking up hungover the next day, but also limiting the amount of damage you’re doing to your body in the long run.”