Sobering scientists reveal there’s no cure for a hangover
Not even a kebab
You might think you have the ultimate fix, but no food or drink will stave off a hangover.
The disheartening new research –– which involved asking 800 students to rate their hangovers –– concluded there’s nothing you can do to prevent a banging headache.
It also revealed those who say they never get them aren’t drinking enough alcohol to warrant a hangover in the first place.
The Dutch study involved asking participants to rate their hangovers from “absent” to “extreme”, and record what food they ate, if they drank water, and if they had a big breakfast the following morning.
Over half gorged on takeaways straight after a night out, but surprisingly –– despite commonly being hailed as a way of soaking up the booze –– this had no “meaningful” effect.
Dr Joris Verster from Utrecht University in the Netherlands said: ” Those who took food or water showed a slight statistical improvement in how they felt over those who didn’t, but this didn’t really translate into a meaningful difference.
“From what we know from the surveys so far, the only practical way to avoid a hangover is to drink less alcohol.”
In a separate study by the university, a third boasted they don’t get hangovers –– but they were proved to be lightweights.
Just two per cent had drank enough to put them at two and a half times the drink-drive limit, and 79 per cent had necked less than they thought.
Dr Verster added: “In general, we found a pretty straight relationship: the more you drink, the more likely you are to get a hangover.
“The majority of those who in fact reported never having a hangover tended to drink less – perhaps less than they themselves thought would lead to a hangover.”
Dr Michael Bloomfield, from University College London, said: “Throughout the world the economic and social costs of alcohol abuse run into hundreds of billions of euros per year.
“It’s therefore very important to answer simple questions like ‘how do you avoid a hangover?’
“While further research is needed, this new research tells us the answer is simple – ‘drink less’.”