Hangover remedies


Various foods, dishes, and medicines have been described as having a theoretical potential for easing or alleviating symptoms of a hangover.

List of hangover foods

Scientific

  • Asparagus: In a small cell-based study, concentrated asparagus leaf extract showed marginal harmful by-product scavenging capabilities. This may mean that there is physiological effect, but further research is necessary.
  • Foods that contain:
  • * Cysteine
  • * gamma-Linolenic acid
  • Drinking water
  • Common pear was found to have the highest effect on aldehyde dehydrogenase activity.

    Folk cures

The following foods and dishes have been described as having a theoretical potential for easing or alleviating symptoms associated with the hangover. Hangover foods have not been scientifically proven to function as a remedy or cure for the hangover.
While recommendations and folk cures for foods and drinks to relieve hangover symptoms abound, hangover foods have not been scientifically proven to function as a remedy or cure for the hangover.
In a review assessing eight randomised controlled trials of propranolol, tropisetron, tolfenamic acid, fructose/glucose, a yeast preparation and supplements containing Borago officinalis, Cynara scolymus and Opuntia ficus-indica, researchers concluded that "no compelling evidence exists to suggest that any conventional or complementary intervention is effective for preventing or treating alcohol hangover."

Medicines

Various folk medicine remedies exist for hangovers. The ancient Romans, on the authority of Pliny the Elder, favored raw owl's eggs or fried canary as a hangover remedy, while the "prairie oyster" restorative, introduced at the 1878 Paris World Exposition, calls for raw egg yolk mixed with Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper. By 1938, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel provided a hangover remedy in the form of a mixture of Coca-Cola and milk. Alcoholic writer Ernest Hemingway relied on tomato juice and beer.
Other purported hangover cures includes more alcohol, for example cocktails such as Bloody Mary or Black Velvet.
A 1957 survey by an American folklorist found widespread belief in the efficacy of heavy fried foods, tomato juice and sexual activity.