Troy Graham, Clks Publishing

Jan. 2, 1998

Ooooh, I'll never drink again.

The world's most often uttered -- and broken -- New Year's resolution will be heard around the world again today as millions of people greet 1998 with a pounding headache, sour stomach and aching body.

While the New Year's Day hangover may be as traditional as Dick Clark -- and even more timeless -- it isn't much fun.

The first hangover cure was probably concocted the morning after alcohol was invented the perfect remedy has been sought after ever since. For the most part hangover cures are an unscientific artform. There are as many individual cures as there are mixes of drinks that can lead to a hangover.

One website, Roc Jaw's Hangover Cure Collection, lists over 100 contributions Vitamin C, pure oxygen, and fast food from McDonald's are some of the more popular remedies.

"An hour or two before you go to bed, drink two to three glasses of water, a glass of orange juice, and six Flintstones vitamins (the little Barney's are my favorite), "offered Melvin J.

Another contributor said Dr. Seltzer's hangover Helper, found in most convenient stores, the "best cure there is."

"The only thing more effective is abstinence," said John L. "of course. I would never be a party to such radical thinking."

The Virtual Bar website offered a bit more scientific advice. Hangovers are caused by dehydration. It said, the website recommends replenishing the body with high vitamin foods like bananas or tomatoes. The effect of tomatoes may also half explain the morning after tradition of Bloody Mary's, the site said.

"The other half, of is more alcohol -- "hair of the dog" -- acts to relax your shattered nerves and numb the pain in the head, "it said. "But, more alcohol is also a great stop on the road to alcoholism, not a habit I'd suggest."

There is, however, one scientifically supported hangover cure. Sob'r-K, an all-natural pill containing activated charcoal, is endorsed by Dr. James Schaefer, a leading expert in alcohol use for the University of Minnesota, said Tom Yankovec, president of Lifestyle Marketing.

The activated charcoal cleanses the impurities and toxins in the alcohol, which are real cause of hangover, Yankovec said from his St. Paul, Minn., office. Yankovec always had a strong aversion to alcohol, a problem in his business when he had to entertain clients, he said. One night, however, after drinking six or seven drinks, he tried Sob'r-K. "I never drank that much in my life," he said. "The next morning I felt great.

It took three years for Yankovec and his partners to get all the rights of the product from a bankrupt pharmaceutical company and test the pill. They have marketing the cure to bars and liquor stores for a year now, he said. In the future they want to get pill in drug stores and health stores and health stores like GNC he said.

Until Sob'r-K comes to West Virginia, you can always try one of Roc Jaw's recipes: "In a sherry glass mix: one raw egg, one tablespoon Worchestershire sauce, one soupspoon red pepper."