Nightwatch: Search for the (hangover) cure

Fred Wehling travels to China on business, where deals often are discussed over food and drink. During one trip, a friend mashed up some guava leaf and gave Wehling a concoction to drink before a meeting.

"We drank our liquor that night and I did not get as hungover and didn't get as drunk as I probably should have," Wehling said.

So when he returned to Minnesota, Wehling's company, Plymouth-based Amerilab Technologies (maker of Fizzies soda pop tablets), created a formula that includes guava leaf and more than 40 other ingredients. The result? A new effervescent tablet for preventing hangovers called Drinkin' Mate.

But can hangovers be prevented or cured? There are hangover cures, they say -- over the counter and in your own kitchen. Do they really work? I sought out an expert opinion to get the lowdown on the science behind hangovers and the reality behind some of these supposed "cures."

Dr. David Satin, who works in family medicine and teaches at the University of Minnesota, said that while the science of hangovers hasn't been explored to its full potential, a 2005 study published by the British Medical Journal is considered the "bible of hangovers" thus far.

In it, doctors found that there is no one way to cure a hangover, which has multiple symptoms.

The medical term for a hangover, Satin said, is actually "veisalgia," from the Greek "-algia" meaning pain and "veis" stemming from the Norwegian word "kveis," which means "an uneasiness following debauchery." Yep, debauchery and then pain. Sounds about right.

Dehydration is a big factor. Alcohol is a diuretic, which causes your body to lose water, mostly through urination. "When you take in a diuretic, it sort of overrides your kidneys' normal mechanism -- it turns the kidneys stupid," Satin said. By decreasing the body's anti-diuretic hormone, alcohol tricks the kidneys into sending water to the bladder instead of retaining it. In severe dehydration, your brain shrinks away from your skull, also contributing to your headache.

Alcohol is also a central-nervous-system depressant. Contributing to the lethargy is alcohol's effect on your blood sugar. Right after drinking, your blood sugar rises, but then it plummets, zapping your energy. And if that weren't enough, your body also releases so-called "inflammatory molecules," which result in nausea and headaches. These are the same molecules that are released when you're sick.

"We don't know why, but one could argue that the body releases inflammatory molecules to fight alcohol off like it's a poison," Satin said.

Maybe some sleep would help, right? Wrong. While most drinkers love the feeling of hitting the sack after a full night of drunkenness, the rest isn't actually doing much for you. Alcohol's depressive effect on your nervous system might help you fall asleep, but it won't be a restful night. Instead of sleeping soundly, your body is working extra hard to make up for its depressed state.

Different types of alcohol affect your body differently, and thus can cause different symptoms. Studies have found that dark-colored alcohol, such as whiskey and red wine, contain a higher level of congeners, a toxic byproduct of fermentation. If you get a headache after drinking such alcohol, you might want to try vodka or gin instead.

For years, drinkers have sworn by everything from greasy food to "the hair of the dog that bit you" (more alcohol). Beyond those homemade "cures," there's always the over-the-counter hangover pills found in drug stores and gas stations. Maybe the most popular brand is Chaser, which uses activated calcium carbonate to filter the absorption of congeners.

So does this stuff work? Even Drinkin' Mate's creators will tell you it depends on the person, on how much you drink and when you drink it. Wehling said Drinkin' Mate is best described as a preventive device, taken before you drink or before you go to sleep.

I tried it a couple times, and admittedly felt fine the next morning. Still, further drinking, er, testing, must be completed.