As party season approaches, so too do the usual rounds of ‘helpful’ hangover cures circulating online. From pickled sheep’s eyeballs (convenient and tasty) to rubbing lemon slices on your armpits (feel the freshness), the interwebs never fails to offer up a cornucopia of options when it comes to your health and wellbeing. 

But apparently there’s this thing called ‘science’. While it sounds a tad, you know, ‘out there’, it also has a thing or two to say on the matter. We decided to put down the dried bull penis and explore this new frontier further. 

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Credit: Chris Court

What causes a hangover?

Well, drinking alcohol, obviously. But it’s what alcohol does to your body that leads to that whole gut-churning, head-pounding, god-let-me-die-now wretchedness. 

Booze doesn’t just dehydrate you. It also disrupts your sleep, irritates your stomach and triggers your immune system. The other culprit is your poor old liver. While it’s desperately working to metabolise that long night of tequila shots and beer chasers, it produces a byproduct called acetaldehyde – a toxic chemical that, if you drink too much alcohol, can build up in your body and make you feel really bloody rotten. This takes time – hence the morning-after misery. That hard-working liver then further breaks down that acetaldehyde into something called acetate, which is responsible for the lingering headache, fatigue and general malaise that continues after the first throes of suffering have subsided.  

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What’s the best cure for a hangover?

A study published all the way back in 2013 saw researchers from Sun Yat-sen University in China test the effect that 57 different herbal and carbonated drinks had on the enzymes that break down and help the body get rid of acetaldehyde and acetate. Interestingly, they found that green tea, while high in antioxidants, actually “seriously” prohibited the metabolism of alcohol. But even more interesting, they found that a soft drink called Xue Bi – the Chinese version of Sprite – was the most effective at helping the body break down acetaldehyde efficiently and more quickly. 

So keep a bottle of Sprite close at hand this party season, and you could help to keep that dreaded hangover to a minimum. Or, you know, just drink in moderation. 

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