MELT YOUR HANGOVERS

How an Alpine winter tradition can steel your liver against the season’s excesses

When it comes to combating today’s major health issues, ‘neutrality’ is not a principle the Swiss abide by. In fact, they easily outrank us across most measures, with lower rates of obesity, heart disease, liver problems and depression.

All of which is pretty good going for a country whose best-known exports are chocolate, cheese and pocket knives. What’s more, research suggests that at least one of the aforementioned items could do our overindulged British bodies a whole lot of good.

According to a study by Texas A&M University, the polyamine compounds found in aged cheese can prevent damaged liver cells from replicating, offsetting some of the harm caused by one too many glühweins. As well as reducing the risk of liver disease and even cancer, the compound has also been shown to increase life expectancy in mice by up to 25%, while a human study published in Nature Medicine linked a higher intake of the nutrient to lower blood pressure and reduced incidences of heart disease. Some studies suggest it could even lessen a number of the negative effects of a high-salt diet.

If the Alps is out of your budget, melt your own mix of gruyere, Emmental and mature cheddar. Ripe cheeses will serve you best as not only are they higher in polyamines, but their enzymes will have broken down the protein, so they’ll liquefy easily. Combine with crushed garlic, pepper, nutmeg and a dash of white wine. Well, who are we to depart from tradition?