Hangovers could soon be cured before they start thanks to new method
Over the years a huge amount of hangover cures have been developed, including the good old fry up, chugging Lucozade and the tried and tested 'hair of the dog' that involves just drinking again.
A hangover really takes a toll on the way your body functions, and the type of hangover you'll have really depends on what you've been drinking the night before.
They all suck to go through but some rough patches are rougher than others, and there's a big market for things that supposedly alleviate the impact of a hangover.
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With that in mind, a team of researchers at the Swiss university ETH Zurich have developed a gel that could help take the edge off a hangover.
How does the gel work?
It's made from whey protein fibrils along with salt and water to turn the product into a gel.
If you think you know the word whey from somewhere, it's a product of the cheese-making process, so the hangover cure is dairy based.
That's not all in the mix, as it also contains iron, glucose and gold (yes, that kind of gold).
What it's supposed to do is shift the breakdown of alcohol from your liver to your digestive tract, which means that the liver won't produce something called acetaldehyde that contributes to a hangover.
Are there any catches?
Yup, you'll have to plan ahead if you hope for your cheesy protein gel to save you from the ravages of a hangover.
It only works when there's alcohol in your gastrointestinal tract, so it won't help you with alcohol poisoning which is an altogether more dangerous beast than a hangover.
It's also not actually ready yet.
What are the scientists saying?
Right now they're saying that the gel appears to work for mice that were given alcohol.
Applying the gel 30 minutes after drinking reduced the alcohol level in the mice by 40 percent, and by five hours later blood alcohol levels had dropped by as much as 56 percent.
"It’s healthier not to drink alcohol at all," said Professor Raffaele Mezzenga from the Laboratory of Food & Soft Materials at ETH Zurich.
"However, the gel could be of particular interest to people who don’t want to give up alcohol completely, but don’t want to put a strain on their bodies and aren’t actively seeking the effects of alcohol."
How soon could the gel be approved for humans?
Researchers are already working on making the gel edible, and they've also applied to have it patented.
However, there are still a lot of tests that need to be done before it's ready to be rolled out to humans.
So don't count on this supposedly wonderful hangover cure being sorted any time soon.
Topics: Health, Science, Food And Drink
Joe Harker