Hangover cure hard to find

by TOM JACKSON of TheTampa Tribune

December 31, 1997

TAMPA - Genuine hangover cures remain elusive, but lots of products claim to ease the symptoms of overindulgence.

Years of study by some of the finest scientific minds have, at last, determined this regarding the recipe of hangovers: It is far easier to get one than to cure one.

Indeed, when it comes to hangovers, "cure" may be a misnomer. Like the common cold, time remains the only reliable antidote.

However, it is unlike modern Americans to grimace and bear it; therefore, the market for the relief of symptoms is a lively one. Instructed to seek "hangover," your favorite Internet search engine will turn up nearly 9,000 hits, the vast majority of them suggesting one potion or another to counteract the effects of overindulgence.

Against all reasonable advice, many will welcome the New year by gulping to excess on an empty stomach instead of sipping conservatively after a full, fatty meal. Studies indicate three-quarters of those celebrants will awaken to these predictable, miserable effects, dry mouth, queasiness, pounding head, jittery nerves. In short alcohol poisoning.

Remarkable according to the Distilled Spirits Council and the National Institute for Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, no government agency has compiled the economic impact of America's hangovers. For the moment, they are content to point out that tomorrow, the country's unofficial National Hangover Day, is a holiday.

Anti-hangover recipes, to borrow an old line, are like hurling stories: Everybody has one. Usually spicy, often foul smelling, these potions seem designed more to punish, rather than comfort, as though they were concocted by disapproving mothers. Offbeat author Nic Van Oudtshoorng, an Australian compile 101 ""cures" for "The Hangover Handbook" (Mustang Publishing, 95 pages, $8.95), many of which contain raw eggs. Consider the ingredients of Hilda's Hangover Remedy, found on the World Wide Web: tomato juice, vinegar, lemon, onion, sugar, celery, Tabasco sauce and "salt and pepper to taste." To taste?

In fact, homegrown remedies frequently include Tabasco of Worcestershire sauce, or both.

While Tabasco spokesman Martin Manion put in a plug for peppers as endorphins promoters, he added this disclaimer from his New Orleans office: "It's really not something we can comment on scientifically. ... But if consumers find some solace in drinking Bloody Marys with a huge dollop of our product to help their hangovers, we have no objections."

Says Jonathan Goldberg, who works in quality assurance for Lea & Perrins, The Worcestershire bottlers, "I'm biased, because I like our product on everything, and for any reason. ... But I don't know what it is about hangovers that would require the use of Worcestershire sauce.

Among traditional modern elixirs, pharmacist caution against Alka-Seltzer and its frizzy kin. The culprit in the formula is aspirin, which tends to increase stomach acidity. For hangover headaches, try non-aspirin painkillers.

There also is enthusiasm among the health-food set for large doses of vitamins, primarily B-1 and C. Anecdotal evidence suggest the soothing properties of Yoo Hoo, the sweet, watery chocolate drink. From China comes a appetizing solution: two juicy tangerines, or a dozen ripe strawberries.

Morning-after sufferers have sought sure hangover remedies since shortly after the invention of fermentation. And every now and again, one promoter or another arrives beating the drum for the latest "sure cure."

Ancient claims of effectiveness are made for activated carbon and its ability to filter out congeners, the by-products of alcohol fermentation that ignite an overabundance in acetaldehyde, "a potent toxin" says James M. Schaefer, a Union (N.Y.) college anthropologist, doctor and frequent "Today" show guest.

The best of the activated carbon filters he's come across is Sob'r-K, packaged and distributed by Minneapolis-based LifeStyle Marketing. Schaefer directed a small double-blind study of the stuff among patrons Schenectady, N.Y., bar, with the results published last May.

According to the study, subjects who swallowed two 350mg tablets three times during the night - two before, two during, and two after drinking - suffered significantly reduced aftereffects.

"It seems to work," says Schaefer. "it stays in the gut and absorbs the impurities, then shunts them into fecal matter.

"I was really skeptical, but it has worked on me, more than once."

Schaefer cautions that Sob'r-K is not a preventive for drunk driving: Blood alcohol levels rise at a traditional rate. And he advises that the product is not a cure-all.

Says the doctor, "I always thought a hangover was a pretty good indicator you've had too much, and maybe you should take a look at your drinking habits."