A Real Hangover Cure?
It’s been a while since I wrote about hangover remedies. To be honest, it’s mostly because there isn’t a lot of scientific research to test and provide evidence for a bunch of supplements that in theory - make a lot of sense as to be a potential hangover cure, but they either haven’t been studied or need more research to back it up - With the except of the 3 Supplements listed in this article.
Over the past few years I’ve been experimenting with some supplements that have been recently studied that show some potential benefits to decreasing the severity of a hangover. I’ve been consuming these myself along with getting some friends and clients to try it out on occasion too. It’s a good sign that scientists are finally putting some time and research into this. Afterall, humans have been drinking alcohol for thousands of years, tons of medicine (both traditional and western) have been discovered to cure or relieve many diseases, yet hangover research is lacking which is surprising because of how abundant alcohol consumption is worldwide.
The following is a list of a few supplements that have been recently studied and show some benefit to relieving the symptoms of a hangover. The cool thing about these is that they’re natural compounds that relieve symptoms by actually assisting in the breakdown of alcohol so it’s toxic by-products do not stay in your body for as long.
L- Cysteine (and it’s precursor NAC)
L-Cysteine is a natural amino acid that is found in the diet and thus in the human body. This amino acid is known to have many positive health benefits. I can go on and on about them and this supplement could have an article of it’s own, but we’ll skip to the topic of this one.
When your body breaks down alcohol, it releases a toxic byproduct (also carcinogen) called acetaldehyde. This toxin is linked to hangover severity as well. L-Cysteine binds to acetaldehyde and helps eliminate the toxin from your body.
Studies have shown that consuming an L-Cysteine supplement after drinking decreases the acetaldehyde content in the stomach and the saliva compared to no supplement.
Another study showed that taking 1200mg of L-Cysteine after drinking helped vastly reduce or even eliminate the next day hangover. This was a randomized double-blind and placebo controlled study (in other words, pretty much as legit as it gets!)
Other studies show that giving L-Cysteine supplement to alcoholic patients helped some of them decrease the withdrawal symptoms the following day and lead to less consumed alcohol.
There’s a supplement specifically called N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) which is very similar however has some slightly different effects because it’s a precursor to L-Cysteine, has slightly more anti-oxidant effects and is more water soluble. However both their effects are similar for this matter.
My anecdotal experience - it friggin helps! I find that the headaches, hangover anxiety and lethargy is significantly less. However, I still felt dehydrated if I didn’t drink enough water before bed. That will surely get you up early to chug a glass of water if you didn’t have enough before bed.
Dihydromyricetin
This is a flavanoid compound found in herbal medicines and teas. It’s effective mechanisms are beginning to be studied deeper. However one study on rats given alcohol demonstrated that Dihydromyricetin has chemical benefits that reduce hangover symptoms and behaviours. It mostly interacted by regulating GABA in the brain. GABA is a neurotransmitter and plays a huge role in your mood.
Another study showed that herbs containing Dihydromyricetin increased alcohol metabolism rates by 60% vs control (which was no supplementation). That’s huge!
My anecdotal experience: I’ve only had this in a combined supplement that contained both L-Cysteine and Milk Thistle as well so I can’t give a true testament however I will say, that supplement worked even better than just L-Cysteine alone.
Milk Thistle
Unfortunately there’s no study that specifically looks at milk thistle’s effects on a hangover. However, it is known to be the MOST studied liver protecting supplement around. Some studies show that it DOES have protective effects on the liver even while consuming alcohol.
Quite a few hangover concoctions call for the addition of milk thistle. Also, there’s a book called “Hungover: The Morning After” and the man who wrote the book included Milk Thistle as one of the top ingredients in his hangover cure.
My anecdotal experience: I’ve only had it in conjunction with L-Cysteine however I believe that it helps.
If you’re interested in trying these, you can find the individual ingredients in most supplement stores. However, there are quite a few companies that sell their own supplements that include all 3 ingredients in it. When I’m at home I have all 3 ingredients in separate bottles ready to go. However, when I’m travelling I purchase the “DHM Detox” from No Days Wasted. They have a mix of all 3 ingredients as well as electrolytes and B vitamins to help you rehydrate and re-energize the next day. They come in small packets with 1 serving each, it’s perfect to fit in a small toiletry bag or even the front pocket of your bag.
If you’re interested in trying it, you can save $7 on a package using my referral link below:
http://nodayswasted.refr.cc/chris3
Thanks for reading and I hope you give any of these a try! It’ll make your morning after a better one!
References
Zhang, Jingyao, et al. "Recent update on the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of dihydromyricetin." Frontiers in pharmacology 9 (2018): 1204.
Shen, Yi, et al. "Dihydromyricetin as a novel anti-alcohol intoxication medication." Journal of Neuroscience 32.1 (2012): 390-401.
Kim, Min-Hae, et al. "Hepatic detoxification activity and reduction of serum alcohol concentration of Hovenia dulcis $ T_ {HUNB} $ from Korea and China." Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science 8.3 (2000): 225-233.
Benson, Sarah, Andrew Scholey, and Joris C. Verster. "L-cysteine and the treatment of alcohol hangover: a commentary on Eriksson et al.(2020)." Alcohol and Alcoholism (2021).
Chen, Peng, et al. "S‐allyl‐l‐cysteine (SAC) protects hepatocytes from alcohol‐induced apoptosis." FEBS open bio 9.7 (2019): 1327-1336.
Eriksson, C. J., et al. "L-cysteine containing vitamin supplement which prevents or alleviates alcohol-related hangover symptoms: Nausea, headache, stress and anxiety." Alcohol and Alcoholism 55.6 (2020): 660-666.
Verster, Joris C., Charmaine JI van Rossum, and Andrew Scholey. "Unknown safety and efficacy of alcohol hangover treatments puts consumers at risk." Addictive Behaviors 122 (2021): 107029.
Wang, Der Yu, et al. "Effects of the hangover secret on mitigating hangover symptoms: A pilot study." Health Science Reports 4.3 (2021): e330.
Abenavoli, Ludovico, et al. "Milk thistle in liver diseases: past, present, future." Phytotherapy Research 24.10 (2010): 1423-1432.