Students give wrong advice on hangover cures
I was shocked by how horrible the advice was in the article “Common cure for a hangover,” in Wednesday’s issue of CM Life.
Take Tylenol to cure a hangover? Good luck avoiding permanent liver damage. Taking Tylenol or other similar painkillers to cure a hangover has serious consequences. It isn’t something in which you can just say, “Ahh, don’t worry about it, man. It’s all good.”
To start off, Tylenol contains a pain-killing compound called acetaminophen and, when you’re hungover, your liver is often too worn out to break it down.
On top of this, your body is dehydrated and flushed of liquids and electrolytes your body uses to produce every function you need to move or think.
If you want potassium, do you honestly think a $2 Vitamin Water is going to provide more potassium than a good ole 30 cent banana? And do you think you’re replacing your vitamins and minerals by drinking a room-temperature coke?
Think about it. You drink something, your body breaks it down, and you eventually sober up. So what is used to aid in breaking down the alcohol? Vitamin B3, also known is niacin. (Just a hint ... Coke doesn’t have any B3).
If you want to “avoid” a hangover, or at least reduce your chances of feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck the next morning, at least mix your alcohol with B vitamins. Get these in pill form. A $5 bottle of B vitamins will give you more B-vitamin supply than 50 gallons of any flavor of Vitamin Water ... per pill.
To get more specific, there is a compound that basically puts your liver into hyper mode. It’s called N-acetyl-cysteine and is a harmless supplement that can be purchased anywhere.
This is an antidote for alcohol poisoning, among other overdoses, and any biochemistry professor would agree.
If you want advice on preventing hangovers, talk to a biochemistry professor, not an avid partier, who is simply more tolerant to alcohol than the average person. I certainly hope that no students follow the hangover advice in your article, unless they want to seriously damage their health.
by Anthony Crawford, Biomedical Science
