Hangover cure? Company invents pill designed to rid drinkers of its unpleasant symptoms

The ingredients include milk thistle which helps the liver protect against harmful alcohol toxins

Beth Timmins
Monday 12 June 2017 16:34 BST
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At long last, it could be time to say goodbye to the hangover. The stupefying symptoms of headaches, dizziness and nausea are all too familiar for alcohol enjoyers but a new pill called “Flyby” could well ease the early mornings.

Flyby was created in 2016 by 23-year-old Eddie Huai from New York, after he found he was lacking an enzyme which works to break down alcohol, meaning his hangovers were even worse than normal.

While visiting Tokyo with his friends, Huai tried a Japanese drinking supplement which he says allowed him to wake up the next morning “feeling great” after an evening in an all-you-can-drink izakaya. The Japanese supplements frequently included turmeric and Huai decided to investigate how they counteracted hangovers more closely.

With a PhD in biochemistry, Huai set to work and made a version of the supplement that became Flyby after testing over 100 ingredient combinations.

The ingredients include milk thistle, which helps the liver protect against toxins and liver hydrolysate, which comes from Argentine cows. Vitamin C, alpha lipoic acid and dihydromyricetin are also included to help the body break down and metabolise the alcohol toxins.

Huai told The Daily Mail that this concoction works together to act as the liver’s personal trainer, body guard and bouncer.

The pill also combats the chemical compound acetaldehyde which is 30 to 40 times more toxic than alcohol, according to Huai. The liver is able to process approximately one drink an hour but when this is exceeded, the acetaldehyde toxin can no longer be broken down by enzymes. Flyby aids these processes by helping enzymes to continually break down the toxins and replenish nutrients.

Since he launched the product in March, Huai says that 60 per cent of customers have returned to buy more, with nearly 90 per cent saying the pill was effective and that they felt great the next morning.

Dietician nutritionist Tamar Samuels told The Daily Mail: 'While there is little to no research to support the benefits of these supplements in preventing or minimising a hangover, there are some science-backed reasons why taking these supplements may be helpful.”

Jess Commons, who wrote a positive review of the pill says: “It's like I can tell I've had a drink – there's a slightly groggy filter over all my senses and getting productive is a little more of a struggle than usual.”

She added, “That gym session I've got pencilled in later doesn't seem unachievable and my insides aren't churning like a cement mixer.”

Preferable to pickle juice or raw eggs, the new anti-hangover cure -when coupled with a sound sleep and lots of rehydrating, may well help to take the edge off the indulgences of the night before.

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