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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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The Scourge of Morning After

Deconstructing the hangover—and the folk remedies that are still the only hope

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(Newser) – Hangovers have afflicted the recently drunk since the Stone Age, yet a dependable remedy remains elusive. A hangover takes hold just as the body succeeds in eliminating the alcohol from the blood stream, Joan Acocella notes in the New Yorker. It results from a pileup of insults the system sustains in getting the job done, she explains, deconstructing the telltale symptoms in vivid detail.

Acocella applies the same intense scrutiny to a plethora of homemade solutions from across the globe,  including eating chilies, peanut butter, or oysters, chewing coca leaves, or taking a shot of pickle juice. “Have breakfast at Denny’s," recommends one American philosophy professor. The most widely employed cures are ingesting great quantities of water and, of course, the hair of the dog, aka more drinking.

First came alcohol, then came hangovers, then came millennia of inability to do anything about them.
First came alcohol, then came hangovers, then came millennia of inability to do anything about them.   ((c) Mr.Thomas)
Classing up your beverage doesn't necessarily mean toning down your hangover.
Classing up your beverage doesn't necessarily mean toning down your hangover.   (KRT Photos)
Mekhong is a Thai spirit made mostly from sugar cane and rice and infused with herbs and spices. That must be one exotic hangover.
Mekhong is a Thai spirit made mostly from sugar cane and rice and infused with herbs and spices. That must be one exotic hangover.   (AP Photo)
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