hangover cures but simplest still best
and hangover cures included chowing down deep-fried canaries, polishing off a serve of raw eel and bitter almonds, feasting on pickled sheep eyeballs in tomato juice, devouring raw owls’ eggs, munching on a dried bull penis and guzzling vinegar or milk mixed with soot.
One ancient treatment, lauded as a miracle cure for hangovers and a range of other conditions, included human cranium, taken from those who had been hanged or died a violent death, mixed with dried viper as the key ingredients.
Fast forward to the modern era and our mission to end misery might be less gruesome but involves similarly high levels of creativity.
From pickle juice to coconut water, a traditional big breakfast with the trimmings through to a baconand-egg burger, copious amounts of coffee or simply a cold shower, hangover cures are like opinions – we all have one. With remedies such as Korean pear juice, red ginseng, artichokes, breakfast beers (think: hair of the dog) as well specifically formulated hangover pills, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to hangover remedies.
Yet a new study has dashed the hopes of those who plan to use a hangover cure as a crutch to help them stumble into the office after having one too many. The study, conducted by researchers at King’s College London, involved almost 400 drinkers, including some in Australia. They all took part in a range of alcohol challenges during which either whisky, vodka, wine or beer was consumed.
The researchers then examined the effectiveness of 23 different so-called remedies and found that the most popular remedies did not alleviate the symptoms of drinking too much alcohol.
With this new, sobering evidence in mind, staying away from the office might be the most responsible choice for those experiencing a hangover. While this might be a bitter pill for your boss to swallow, most modern employers will recognise that woozy workers with physical and mental impairments can make costly mistakes and pose a health and safety risk not only to themselves but to those around them.
So while some hangover cures like drinking water might help to put your body and mind on the road to recovery, there is no known remedy which will restore your work performance to the same level that your employer has become accustomed to. But do not be too dispirited. There is one cost-effective cure that is 100 per cent scientifically proven to prevent hangovers – not drinking in the first place.