Share Email Print RSS

Hangover Helpers

The Greeks believed that eating five almonds before imbibing prevented a hangover. The Russians ate caviar along with their chilled vodka so they could drink larger amounts of it. And, the ancient Romans squashed next-day queasiness with a plate of deep-fried canary. All of these "cures" worked to some degree. Eating protein with alcohol slows its absorption and eating protein the next day replaces lost nutrients. What kind of protein isn't important, Tweety.

If despite your best efforts of drinking on a full stomach, avoiding carbonated mixers and aspirin, both of which transport alcohol to the bloodstream faster than Amy Winehouse can grab a crack pipe, and remembering to follow your martinis with a water-chaser, you woke up today with a hangover that makes your hair hurt, there is relief. We want to make it better.

I went to the experts, restaurant workers, for advice on how to kick a hangover to the curb. I asked bartenders, owners and waitstaff for their remedies.

Night-owls musicians and hard-drinking history majors alike, these people like a cocktail. Nothing makes one want a drink like making and serving them all night. The results of the informal survey were disappointing. Across the board, I got a variation of this answer: Bunyanesque doses of aspirin, H20 and sleep all day. I realized that I needed to ask people that had to be at work EARLY. People with a reason to seek a quick cure. People who would only let me publish their first names so their employers couldn't identify them.

Stephanie, of Travelers Insurance, recommends a Pedialyte mocktail, consisting of " equal parts clear Pedialyte and soda water, sipped through a straw. " Why it works: Pedialyte was developed for children to replace fluids and electrolytes lost during vomiting. It is caffeine-free and the soda water that is so bad with her P.M. Maker's Mark is her friend the next day. It makes her blood an electrolyte sponge.

Dominic, a rocker with a day job, recommends a "British fry-up breakfast served with a light Bloody Mary. "

Why it works: Heavy on the protein, the sausage, eggs, cheese and bacon mops up any lingering alcohol. The Bloody Mary replaces lost vitamin C and the splash of vodka is a weak, odorless pain reliever. Hair of the dog is a good thing, as long as your coworkers can't smell it.

Julia, a purveyor of fine wines, suggests a Vietnamese flu shot from Mekong restaurant on Broad Street. ":Mekong Pho Tai. Yum!"   Can't go out for lunch? Pick up a pho to-go from Pho So #1, which opens at 9:30 AM. Why it works: It just does. Try the house special with meatballs and sweat the booze out like you're in a sauna.

Clint, doorman by night and sound mixer by day, swears by AM booty. Why it works: Exercise, sweat and a huge release of endorphins. The neurotransmitters released during sex act as a natural pain killer.

My cure: An Emergen-C (powdered Vitamin C and electrolytes available in health-food sections) before bed and one when you arise. It's easily slipped into a pocket for replacing vitamins and electrolytes throughout the day. I just can't bring myself to sip Pedialyte.

Have a sure-fire cure for bar flu? Leave it in the comments.