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The search for a hangover cure that actually works is basically the drinking world’s equivalent of the quest for the Holy Grail. One man even devoted ten years of his life repeatedly getting hammered in an attempt to discover a solution, and while there are some products on the market that have come close to realizing the dream of a pill you can pop to make all of the pain magically melt away, we sadly live in a world where it still seems like a pipe dream.
As someone who’s probably experienced just as many hangovers as that aforementioned guy over the past decade, I’ve tried basically every remedy in the book. I’ve come to rely on a greasy breakfast in an attempt to make the morning after less miserable (an approach that seems to be backed by science) but it took me far too long to realize one of the best ways to mitigate the repercussions of an evening filled with regrettable decisions is to pound as much water as possible before passing out.
During a recent chat with Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast, Matthew McConaughey (who serves as a creative director for Wild Turkey and is certainly no stranger to drinking) took some time to share some words of wisdom on this particular topic by revealing his strategy when it comes to hangovers. The actor’s response was Peak McConaughey, as he also starts preparing for what’s to come the night before but opts to take a more mental approach when it comes to dealing with the consequences of his actions, saying:
“Discipline, I’d say would be one of my strengths… I never have been one of those people that the next day goes, ‘Oh God, I’m never doing that again.’ Well, bullshit, you are.
Also, I check in the night before, and say, ‘Ok what do we got tomorrow morning?’ You know, what’s my situation here now, what do we got tomorrow morning? If we don’t start till 11, eh that’s pretty easy. Oh, we start at 7? Ok ok, risk-reward here..
How are we measuring this? Look at the group… what’s everyone pouring? Is this night on the way down or we about to switch into third gear and go up? And then I gotta go, ‘Ok.’ And if choose to say ok, the rockets are gonna launch and this could go till sunrise.
So I get my mind right. I’ll go head off that night, look in the mirror and go, ‘Hey buddy, this is going to suck tomorrow morning. Now we’re going to bulldog through this. We’re not going to make any excuses, we’re gonna get up an hour and a half early, we’re gonna go run and sweat this damn thing out and tomorrow is gonna be hard… but are you in?’
And we’ll shake on it or not. And then the next morning just go, ‘Here we go man, ride the baseline.’”
Just when I think I couldn’t possibly love McConaughey any more than I already do, he goes and does something like this.