Feels like a hangover, but I had no alcohol? Help needed!

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diadojikohei
diadojikohei Posts: 732 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So it was my son's birthday last night and in our house the birthday boy gets to chose what we have for dinner! He wanted to go to our local Chinese restaurant, we use it maybe once a month, and it's really nice with good food.
So after a lovely evening won tun soup al round, crispy seaweed, chicken and cashew nuts veggie spring rolls, chicken fried noodles, crispy lemon chicken and pork dumplings we all go home, no one wants cake so we chat etc and everyone goes to bed not late 10.30 ish.


This morning we all feel awful, like we have hangovers but we didn't have any alcohol at all! My face is all puffy like I've been crying and we all feel tired.

What's going on, what's with the alcohol free hangover?

Any ideas?
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Replies

  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    Actually its easy....

    MSG, Salt and poor carbohydrates

    You probably would have been better off making homemade chinese foods at home so you wouldnt feel this way......
  • tistal
    tistal Posts: 869 Member
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    Chinese = Sodium overload. Chug chug chug H2O!!!!!!
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    Chinese = Sodium overload. Chug chug chug H2O!!!!!!

    Also - add exercise to that... get the cardiovascular pumped up to move this excessive sodium-soaked fluid out of your body
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
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    Yeah, I was going to say dehydration... Drink lots and lots of water and go for a walk.
  • Capekj51
    Capekj51 Posts: 17 Member
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    In addition to the possibilities of MSG and all of the sodium, I find that I sometimes feel like I have a hangover if I drink too much diet caffeinated soda. It feels awful!
  • zoeluiisa
    zoeluiisa Posts: 392
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    I'd guess the chef is a fan of MSG... Evil stuff :angry:
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    I'd guess the chef is a fan of MSG... Evil stuff :angry:

    The problem is "local Chinese Restaurant"... they are not even real chinese recipes... its all americanized CRAP.... the REAL stuff would not contain all the MSG, high amounts of sodium... Ive studied under quite a few chinese and japanese chefs, friends with a korean chef, and even they say "its an insult to what our culture truly prepares"...

    Sad, sad, sad
  • Dauntlessness
    Dauntlessness Posts: 1,489 Member
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    Possible food allergy, food poisoning or too much sodium. Anyone else feeling like crap that ate the same food too? Id drink a ton of water and maybe even take some Diphenhydramine aka Benadryl.
  • leejayem
    leejayem Posts: 120 Member
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    I would probably go get checked by your doctor - on the rare occasion (like you, for birthdays) that we eat Chinese food none of us have ever had a reaction like that. Sounds like you could all be allergic to comething??!!
  • jlohcook
    jlohcook Posts: 228 Member
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    MSG, sodium, they may also have added rice wine or some kind of wine for seasoning of the chicken or the dumpling - common ingredient for chinese food, perhaps thay's why the hangover?

    In addition, you may also feel sick, because these food are full of oil , fats, spring rolls are fried, noodles are stir fried, dumpling - pork (I presume). HIgh fats contents makes you feel bloated and sick at times if you are not used to it. In addition, noodles - especially yellow noodles, somehow, its more difficult to digest. I always get gastric when I take too much yellow noodles even though I'm chinese.
  • B_Mindful
    B_Mindful Posts: 38 Member
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    Dehydration, without a doubt. Drink as much plain water as you can today, at least 8 glasses -- more would be better.
  • FionaAnne22
    FionaAnne22 Posts: 178 Member
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    Yep the dreaded food hangover, get it with all foods like that, as everyone else has said, drink lots and lots of water!
  • MrsLeyva11
    MrsLeyva11 Posts: 90
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    I always feel like that after I've had a high sodium day and not enough water to compensate. Like everyone else says, drink water and go for a walk or something :) You'll be amazed how much better you feel. Hangovers are just the result of being dehydrated from drinking too much alcohol and it flushing out the water in your system (being that alcohol is a diuretic) so you wake up the next day dehydrated and with a headache. So you get the same effect when you consume too much sodium. Drink up hun!
  • diadojikohei
    diadojikohei Posts: 732 Member
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    Thanks guys!
    I've downed a litre of water so far and two mugs of detox tea as well as my morning cuppa! Walking my daughter to school was a good idea even though I didn't feel like it. It's a real shame too because usually the food is really good, freshly made with very little oil in it. Maybe they have a new chef?!
    We used to live in Hong Kong and the children grew up there so we are use to good chinese food but we've never had this reaction before.
    I never thought of MSG?
    Many thanks for the suggestions.
    x
    edit typo's
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    And not enough water. That hangover feeling is your brain dehydrated. Alcohol drives water out of your cells and into your blood. So does salt.

    Drink.
  • knk1553
    knk1553 Posts: 438 Member
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    A hangover is a combination of dehydration/withdrawal from alcohol. So I would say you're dehydrated. That and if you haven't ate there in a while your body probably isn't happy with the MSG/Sodium in it. If it doesn't improve and everyone starts getting sick I would say go to the doctor because it could be a case of food poisoning. Drink TONS of water and try a little exercise.
  • JeninBelgium
    JeninBelgium Posts: 804 Member
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    either dehydration or food poisoning
    and while the "chinese" food may have been "americanized crap"- I can attest to the fact that tons of msg is used in China

    as for Comparing Chinese and Japanese and Korean food- Japanese food is nothing like the other two- and China is so big you can't even compare one type of Chinese food to another

    as for Korean food I have had it quite a few times but am not a fan so I can not really comment on it


    Actually I should say Japanese food is nothing like the two especially since I am also saying that Chinese food is so diverse...
    I am, I suppose contradicting myself-

    I found this to back up my real Chinese food has tons of msg claim


    "The average Chinese person now eats an estimated 1.3 pounds of MSG a year, Ms. Wang said, six times as much as just a decade ago. And while most people use it as a flavor enhancer, in recent years some have even been touting its healthful effects: some food scientists here say it improves mental alertness, and it is sold in little red packets carrying images of playing children -- as a drink to fight childhood constipation."
  • Heyyleigh
    Heyyleigh Posts: 268 Member
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    Crap in = crap out ;)

    You'll feel better later......... drink alot of water and eat clean today. It's always fun to do that, but it wreaks havoc on the ol body!
  • balletlover
    balletlover Posts: 1
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    You're dehydrated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Drink water!! And stay away from so much salt...
  • kykykenna
    kykykenna Posts: 656 Member
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    I'd guess the chef is a fan of MSG... Evil stuff :angry:

    The problem is "local Chinese Restaurant"... they are not even real chinese recipes... its all americanized CRAP.... the REAL stuff would not contain all the MSG, high amounts of sodium... Ive studied under quite a few chinese and japanese chefs, friends with a korean chef, and even they say "its an insult to what our culture truly prepares"...

    Sad, sad, sad

    Agree! I worked in a restaurant with Vietnamese owners. They cooked completely different and ate completely different than what was served. Theirs looked GREAT compared to what is typically served. I often wondered why (I was a lot younger) this was the case. Now I know. I often told them "I want to eat what YOU eat!" LOL

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