How do you Prevent Hangovers?

In the last article that I posted about resveratrol, the antioxidant found in red wine, I mentioned that in order to obtain a beneficial amount of resveratrol via the consumption of wine, one would have to drink an outrageous amount of wine each day – about a hundred bottles! Obviously this amount of wine consumption is not practical to say the least but it is a great lead-in for my next topic: The prevention of Hangovers…

 

You all know what happens.  You drink too much, and the next day you feel like warmed-over dog excrement.  In the old days, everyone, including doctors, said that there was nothing you could do to prevent it from happening, and once it did happen, you would just have to wait it out until your body recovered.  At best, this was one or two days.

There were many mantras of protection, such as don’t mix your drinks, drink plenty of water, etc.  And we used to try all sorts of remedies to recover, including aspirin, exercise, fried food, etc.  None of these really worked, even though they often obtained the status of “urban myths”.

 

Now, however, scientists seem to have found the cause of hangovers and preventions have been developed that seem to work.

 

What causes hangovers?  Apparently when alcohol is metabolized in the body, two toxic substances are formed: acetaldehyde and malondialdehyde.  Both of these substances cause free-radical damage to cells within the body.  This is why you feel sick the day after drinking too much (the effect has been compared to radiation poisoning). 

 

How do you prevent hangovers?  Obviously, to prevent cell damage from these two toxic substances and the resulting hangover, acetaldehyde and malondialdehyde need to be neutralized.  A number of substances have been identified that prevent free-radical damage including vitamins C, B₁, E, amino acids S-allylcysteine and glutathione, and selenium.  One substance in particular has been identified and tested against acetaldehyde is N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), an analogue of the dietary amino acid cysteine.   But enough of this stuff and these alien scientific names.  What you want to know is, just “What do I do?”

 

What do I do to prevent hangovers?  My brother-in-law has reported excellent results using a product called Anti-Alcohol Antioxidants (which contains NAC) available from the Life Extension Foundation.  He takes this whenever he drinks heavily.  By heavily, he means 3 oz. of whiskey before dinner, 2-3 glasses of wine with dinner and 2-3 oz. of cognac after dinner.  He takes 6 of the capsules just before starting to drink, 4 capsules with the wine and 4 capsules before going to bed.  He reports that he has never had a hangover since implementing this procedure. 

 

Caveats.  My brother-in-law is in excellent physical condition and takes a large amount of dietary supplements on a daily basis including the supplements mentioned above.  Therefore, the procedure mentioned above may not work as well for you as it does for him.  In addition, there may be some placebo effect at work here.  However, give it a try, it will probably at least help.  I would be interested in knowing how it works for you.

 

References:  Disease Prevention and Treatment, expanded fourth edition, pgs. 35-37, Life Extension Foundation, 2003.