Chinese Scientists Find Cure For Hangover

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.

Source- Daily Mail