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Thursday LOVELAND REPORTER-HERALD/Health Line of Northern Colorado June 18, 2009
Nothing is worse than a bad hangover. But is there a cure? Story by Jade Cody • Editor
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s the alarm snaps you back into consciousness, your head thumps. You peak out of crusty half-opened eyes, wondering why there is a Radio Flyer wagon strapped behind your dog’s rear end and what, exactly, are the couch cushions doing stacked up around your bed (you made a fort, silly). Get ready for the longest day of your life. Most people have been there. Maybe not wagon-butt hungover, but most of us have experienced a taste of the dry mouth, nausea and headaches. Problem is, once you
pass that drink threshold, it’s usually too late to do anything about it but sleep. Common folklore offers hundreds of hangover cures — from tomato juice, eating greasy foods or even the hair of the dog concept (drinking more alcohol). For the past week, I’ve made it my business to find out what works and what doesn’t. I arranged a highly scientific testing procedure to narrow down the best and worst so-called hangover cures. The constants of my test are as follows: • According to information from hangover remedy Chaser, it only
takes an average of 3.2 drinks to cause a hangover. So I’ll drink four Sunshine Wheat beers over a three hour period. I would’ve increased this amount to get a real nasty hangover effect, but I’m only willing to go so far for science. • I will eat as much pasta salad as is physically possible during the hour before the drinks are consumed. It will be equally delicious each time. • I will get eight hours of sleep directly after the three hours of drinking concludes. I may or may not dream of making forts.