It has long been a strong coffee or even a
Bloody Mary that a worn-out reveller has
turned to the morning after the night
before.
Now, however, experts say that Sprite may
be best thing to lay your hands on.
Chinese scientists examined 57 beverages -
ranging from herbal teas to fizzy pop -
before concluding that the lemon and lime
drink performed the best.
They first decided to look at what causes a
hangover and discovered that rather than
the alcohol itself, it could be the process of
the body breaking down the alcohol that
causes symptoms such as nausea and
headache.
When we drink, our livers release an
enzyme called alcohol
dehydrogenase (ADH), which breaks down
the ethanol in alcohol into a chemical
called acetaldehyde (so less the alcohol
enters the bloodstream).
This is then broken down into another
chemical called acetate by an enzyme
called aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH).
While acetate is usually considered
harmless - and has been linked with some
of the health benefits of alcohol - being
exposed to the more potent acetaldehyde is
what causes hangover symptoms, the
researchers found.
With this in mind, the researchers at Sun
Yat-Sen University, in Guangzhou, tested a
range of drinks, from teas, hot herbal
drinks and various fizzy drinks - and
examined how they affected ADH and
ALDH.
They discovered that a herbal drink made
with hemp seeds actually increased
the length of the ADH process and
inhibited the ALDH process, so a hangover
would last for longer.
But Sprite was among the drinks that sped
up the ALDH process, causing the alcohol
to be broken down more quickly, thereby
reducing hangover duration.
'These results are a reminder that herbal
and other supplements can have
pharmacological activities that both harm
and benefit our health,' Edzard Ernst,
Emeritus Prodessor of complementary
medicine at the University of Exeter,
told Chemistry World.
Young people - and regular drinkers -
produce more of the alcohol
dehydrogenase enzyme, so they don't feel
the effects of alcohol as much as older
people, said consultant hepatologist Dr
Rajiv Jalan of University College Hospital
London.
The only good news is that, with age,
hangover headaches become less of a
problem.
The headaches are the result of alcohol
damaging the brain, causing it to swell
temporarily and crash against the skull.
But as we age our brains shrink, so there is
more room for it to swell before it hits the
bone.
Daily Mail
