Hangovers

It’s not even January 1 and there’s an article about hangovers! Joan Acocella writes in the New Yorker about the phenomenon that Egyptians call “still drunk,” the Japanese “two days drunk,” the Chinese “drunk overnight” and the Danes “carpenters in the forehead.”

While drinking to excess without a resulting hangover might sound like something technology should have fixed by now (I prefer a huge glass of water and 2 Tylenols before bed (my poor liver)) Acocella doesn’t suggest much in the way of a cures. But she does talk about various causes:

The severity of a hangover depends, of course, on how much you drank the night before, but that is not the only determinant…And what kind of alcohol did you drink? In general, darker drinks, such as red wine and whiskey, have higher levels of congeners—impurities produced by the fermentation process, or added to enhance flavor—than do light-colored drinks such as white wine, gin, and vodka. The greater the congener content, the uglier the morning.

Does that red-white difference ring true for you? I have to admit Vodka has been prety kind to me over the years...well at least with respect to the morning after. What about “natural” winemaking? Sake drinkers often tout its purity and some even go so far to say that it doesn’t give headaches. I’ve have nothing to add to that thought.

And as to the cure, she suggests wearing sunglasses and moping around. (Just kidding). Jay swears by the “hair of the dog.” But I’d steer clear of this morning-after twist from a Ukrainian in the story: “two shots of vodka, then a cigarette, then another shot of vodka.” She counsels to avoid Tylenol (uh oh, I'm not happy after 20 years of post drinking tylenols) since it increases toxicity to the liver. For prevention, she points to advocates of drinking lots of water, a glass of milk or eating a meal prior to drinking. And, of course, consuming alcohol in moderation. (that's just plain silly).