Shine OnNewest science-approved hangover cure: Sprite
The next time you're battling a dreaded hangover, skip the strong coffee or Bloody Mary and "obey your thirst": reach for a Sprite instead.
After testing 57 beverages, a group of Chinese scientists determined that the carbonated lemon-lime soft drink performed the best at relieving hangover symptoms.
They published their findings in the journal Food & Function.
Also see: Hangovers get better with age -- seriously!
Sprite, the scientists discovered, has the ability to break down acetaldehyde, a chemical byproduct associated with hangover symptoms that is produced when the liver metabolizes alcohol.
And since most hangovers are actually caused by this metabolization process, not the alcohol itself, limiting the body's exposure to acetaldehyde can help shorten and decrease the severity of hangovers.
Some of the drinks tested, including some herbal teas, actually sped up the process of creating the toxic acetaldehyde, but slowed its removal from the body's system.
Also see: Best foods to cure your hangover
Sprite and soda water, however, promoted the rapid breakdown of the chemical.
"These results are a reminder that herbal and other supplements can have pharmacological activities that can both harm and benefit our health," Edzard Ernst, a medical expert at the University of Exeter in the U.K., tells Chemistry World.
Ernst cautions that people shouldn't stock up on Sprite just because of one intriguing study. Before the scientific community fully accepts these findings, independent studies will have to replicate the hangover-reducing results.
What's your go-to drink when you're suffering from a hangover?
