Strange Hangover Cures

Posted by Alex in Medicine on January 1, 2008 at 6:18 am


Hungover man with cold compress on headIf you’ve woken up after a wild New Year’s Eve party with a nasty hangover, Angela Epstein of the Daily Mail has written this handy guide on (some strange) ways to minimize the symptoms and cure the headache, nausea and body aches:

RUB YOUR ARMPITS WITH LEMON

Puerto Ricans apparently swear by this holistic cure. The lemon juice supposedly stops you sweating and so helps you retain fluid and prevent the dehydration that contributes to hangover headaches. [...]

SNACK ON A BANANA

Bananas contain a lot of potassium, a mineral lost when we drink alcohol and a lack of which contributes to the dehydration symptoms of hangover, says Tom MacDonald, professor of immunology at Bart’s and The London School of Medicine.

Bananas are also a source of carbohydrates and eating one will raise blood sugar levels and so stave off nausea.

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6 comments to "Strange Hangover Cures"

  1. Dave
    January 1st, 2008 at 9:45 am

    Prevention is the best medicine.

    While that may be too late for some on the first morning of the year (you do have my sympathy!) think about it next time. It is possible to have a good time and enjoy a drink or two without getting totally blasted.

  2. VonSkippy
    January 2nd, 2008 at 12:13 am

    Alcohol poisoning is no laughing matter - that's why it's best just to smoke pot (which has an astronomically high LD50 when compared to alcohol).

  3. Alex
    January 2nd, 2008 at 12:39 am

    Well, the draconian American justice system (when it comes to drug offenses) is no laughing matter either - that's why it's best just to waste your time reading Neatorama. ;)

  4. algonkin
    January 2nd, 2008 at 10:02 am

    That link will be useful for me ;)

  5. NutSak
    January 2nd, 2008 at 11:28 am

    Drink lots of water before going to bed...and take a vitamin b pill.

  6. S.motion
    January 10th, 2008 at 2:11 am

    Of course, if the dehydrogenase actually refers to a blend of both alcohol dehydrogenase *and* acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, then they’d have a modestly useful product. Alcohol detoxification via these two enzymes does occur in the stom\ach (in men only - women lack the enzymes in their stomachs. Both genders, however, do the majority of metabolism in the liver. However, this difference is the reason why men can generallly drink more). Anyway, if you had a product containing both enzymes in
    useful quantities, it would probably allow you to drink more Grange Hermitage than usual before leaving the pub for the night….Of course, as you’ve suggested, it’s more likely they’ve only included one of the dehydrogenase compounds.
    Another possibility, rather than them having included alcohol dehydrogenase in their product, is if they’d included solely

    aldehyde degrogenase instead. As it’s the acetaldehyde which makes you feel so awful when you’ve been drinking heavily, additional enzyme could at least help make you feel a it better. It would do nothing, though, to hasten the removal of alcohol from your blood stream per se. In any case, I’m not sure if this would be viable given that once alcohol has been metabolised to acetaldehyde in the liver, I don’t think gastric metabolism would play a major role in detoxifying acetaldehyde to acetic acid.
    Bottom line: if someone can come up with a pill that contains both enzymes in useful quantities - I’d be willing to bet that
    it would have some effect. That doesn’t seem to be the case here though, does it…


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