Ultimate hangover cure can be made from ‘fruits, roots and leaves’, scientists claim

Greasy food and Bloody Marys not cutting through the wretchedness? Try this instead

The one true purpose of science is to furnish humans with an effective hangover cure.

After centuries of beating around the bush, it appears one team from Germany are finally on the right track.

Scientists from the Institute of Molecular Physiology at the Johannes Gutenberg-University, in Mainz, have revealed it is not a full English breakfast composed of various fried goods which is best set to relieve hangover symptoms, but instead, a combination of extracts from “fruits, leaves and roots”.

The research, published in the British Medical Journal, also suggests current theories for the existence of hangovers – such as dehydration and loss of electrolytes – may be wrong.

The team used some 214 healthy drinkers aged 18-65, split them into three groups, gave them alcoholic drinks, then fed one group “water soluble plant extracts” along with vitamins and minerals, the second group had the vitamins and minerals alone, and the third group was given a placebo.

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The results indicate consumption of the plant extracts resulted in a significant improvement in how drinkers felt after consuming alcohol.

The plant extracts included: Barbados cherry (Acerola), prickly pear, ginkgo biloba, willow and ginger root.

The vitamins and minerals included: magnesium, potassium, sodium bicarbonate, zinc, riboflavin, thiamin and folic acid.

The number and type of drinks consumed was recorded as was how many times they emptied their bladder between 1700 and 2100 hours.

Blood and urine samples and blood pressure measurements were taken before and after the start of this four-hour period, after which the participants were sent home “to sober up”.

Twelve hours later the same samples and blood pressure measurements were taken, and participants filled in a questionnaire about the type and intensity of perceived hangover symptoms, which were ranked on a zero to 10 scale.

The average amount of alcohol consumed was virtually the same in all three groups: 0.62 ml/minute.

Analysis of all the data showed symptom intensity varied widely among the participants.

But compared with the glucose only supplement, those taking the full supplement of plant extracts, minerals/vitamins, and antioxidants reported less severe symptoms.

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Average headache intensity was 34 per cent less, nausea 42 per cent less, while feelings of indifference fell by an average of 27 per cent and restlessness by 41 per cent.

No significant differences or reductions were reported for any of the other symptoms.

Polyphenol and flavonoid compounds in each of the five plant extracts have been associated with curbing the physiological impact of alcohol in previously published experimental studies, the researchers said. But it’s not clear how.

“The underlying mechanisms remain to be unravelled and surely need further investigation,” the authors wrote.

No significant difference in any symptom was reported by those taking the supplement minus the plant extracts, indicating the plant extracts were largely responsible for the observed changes, the researchers said.

Furthermore, the absence of any observed impact for vitamins and minerals on their own “suggests that alcohol might not affect electrolyte and mineral balance, as is commonly thought”, they said.

The analysis also showed levels of water content in the body weren’t significantly associated with the amount of alcohol drunk.

“Our results suggest that alcohol-induced increased fluid excretion does not necessarily lead to a significant dehydration process,” they said.

“It seems to be clear that hangover symptoms are predominantly caused by alcohol and its metabolites,” they conclude.