New Years Preparation- Required Reading

In honor of New Years and my own planned self-destruction, I thought it would be fun to take a spin on the web in search of hangover cures.

Before I go any further, and without implying anything, alot of what I found came from the UK and Ireland. That said there are some interesting cures out there… Most are crap but their worth a chuckle. By the way, in this list is one tested cure (and one that is obviously a perfect preventative); I don’t want to spoil it so I’ll wait until the end to clue you in.

Voodoo Cure

Sticking 13 needles in the cork of the wine bottle is reputed to head off a hangover. Probably because by the time you find the needles and get coordinated enough to stick them into the cork, you've given your body a chance to recover! This remedy has a variation where the ashes of a cigar are dropped into a beer bottle. (Not recommended in nonsmoking areas)

Prickly Pear

Apparently, the latest answer is to use the skin of the prickly pear cactus. It significantly reduces the body’s inflammatory reaction to alcohol, thereby reducing the severity of hangover symptoms such as headache and nausea, they say.

Gerry from Belfast said:

[In addition,] as the prickly pear cactus is in abundance throughout the island of Ireland, it seems inevitable that thousands of us will be ditching a cooked breakfast on New Year's Day in favour of this new miracle hangover cure. Talk about an irrelevant news story...

Vimto

Have a hot bath and drink two pints of Vimto on ice. The Vimto keeps your head cool so your body sweats out all the booze. You have to start by kneeling up in the bath then gradually immersing the rest of your body” – Cold Feet star John Thomson’s hangover cure.

Volcanic hangover cure

A hangover cure based on volcanic dust may soon be on the shop shelves, according to a UK company.

A West Sussex firm wants to start clinical trials of the mineral. It claims the pills, which can already be bought over the internet, absorb toxins from alcohol "like Velcro".

Burnt Toast with Honey

Fructose, found in many fruit juices, helps the body burn alcohol faster. Consuming food high in fructose is beneficial, both before and after an evening of excessive alcohol. "Honey has the highest concentration of fructose. …spread some honey on toast." Eating honey on toast can double your benefits, as long as the toast is burnt. Burnt toast has a small amount of carbon, the same ingredient found in the hangover pills, which can absorb the impurities in alcohol.

Until hangover cure is found, drink less booze, more water

Remedy is elusive: Purported aids range from the prickly pear to a big, greasy breakfast, but researching a "magic pill" brings some ethical headaches, too

Party Poopers!

The perfect cure of course is not to drink. The studied one is the Prickly Pear extract. Apparently, you can get it in health food stores.

What is your hangover cure?