What is a hangover and how does it work? How are hangovers treated in the past and present?

Let’s take a look at what a hangover is, how it happens, how it was dealt with in the past, and what modern hangover cures have been developed.

 

Back-to-school and enrollment season is upon us, and with it comes a lot of drinking. Alcohol is always present at office parties, and it is an integral part of meeting with old friends. And as we can see from the ceremonial drinking of alcohol in rituals and the Three Kingdoms’ dowon resolution, alcohol has become more than just an intoxicating beverage, it has become one of the means of communication in our lives. However, when you drink too much, whether you like it or not, you’re naturally concerned about getting rid of a hangover so that you don’t have trouble with your classes or life the next day. Since we drink so often, shouldn’t we be more aware of what we’re doing and how we’re eating?
First, let’s take a look at hangovers and how ethanol is broken down in the body. A hangover is when you wake up from a night of heavy drinking with unusual malaise, headaches, or reduced mental and physical performance that lasts for one to two days. When alcohol enters the body, it’s absorbed in the stomach and small intestine, and then travels to the liver, which is responsible for 90% of alcohol breakdown. Once in the liver, alcohol is oxidized to acetaldehyde by an enzyme called ADH (Alcohol Dehydrogenase). The hangover you feel is due to acetaldehyde, a breakdown product of ethanol. Acetaldehyde causes a number of disorders in the body and releases a lot of toxicity during its breakdown. Therefore, if it doesn”t break down quickly enough and the concentration of acetaldehyde in the blood increases, vomiting, breathing difficulties, headaches, and even coma can occur. Similar to alcohol, acetaldehyde is oxidized to acetic acid by an enzyme called ALDH (Aldehyde Dehydrogenase), which is finally broken down into water and carbon dioxide, which is then excreted from the body. From this, we can see that in order to cure a hangover, the enzymes ADH and ALDH need to be active and the liver, which is responsible for 90% of alcohol breakdown, needs to be energized so that it can do its job.
There are many hangover remedies, but we’ll divide them into two main categories: traditional and more recently developed and used. Traditional hangover cures include bean sprout soup and honey water. Bean sprouts are high in asparaginic acid. It”s this acid that helps to cure hangovers. This amino acid helps the production of the enzymes ADH and ALDH, which are responsible for the rapid breakdown of ethanol and acetaldehyde. Next, let”s talk about honey water. When the body eats carbohydrates, such as rice, it breaks them down into polysaccharides, disaccharides, and monosaccharides for energy. Honey is made up of glucose and fructose, which are monosaccharides, so when you eat it, it”s absorbed and used as a source of energy without any breakdown. This quick energy boost helps the liver to detoxify alcohol, which helps with hangovers. If the liver is the factory and ADH and ALDH are the machines, the asparaginic acid in the bean sprout soup is the lubricant that keeps the machines running smoothly, and the honey water is the electricity that keeps the whole factory running.
So, what are some of the latest hangover cures that have been developed and used? The most common examples are hangover drinks, haze drinks, and drinking chocolate milk. The main ingredients of both hangover drinks and haze drinks are the berries and woody parts of the haze tree. Its berries, roots, branches, and leaves contain glucose, malic acid, calcium, and other beneficial substances that have long been used to treat fatigue and nausea. In particular, the active substances ampelopsin and hovenitins are responsible for protecting the liver and eliminating alcohol poisoning and hangovers. In the body, these active substances support the activity of ADH and ALDH, which, like bean sprouts, promote the breakdown of alcohol. These hangover-fighting properties of huckleberry are relatively recent discoveries. ChocoMilk chocolate is 60% carbohydrates. Most of these carbohydrates are disaccharides, which, like honey water, can provide energy to the liver at a rapid rate. And because milk is alkaline, it neutralizes the acidic acetic acid, reducing the burden on the body. In other words, hangover drinks and haze drinks are like bean sprout soup, and chocolate milk is like honey water.
In this article, we”ve discussed how to cure a hangover after drinking alcohol. While there are many hangover cures, they all have acetaldehyde as a byproduct of the process, which is what causes hangovers, so it’s important to not drink alcohol or drink more than you should. Just as “it’s been a while, let’s have a meal sometime” means more than a meal, “let’s have a drink” means more than a drink. In this way, alcohol has played a role in our modern society, perhaps since ancient times, that is much more than just a drink to get drunk. Therefore, it’s important to know the principles and methods of hangover cures in order to be prepared for the occasional, and perhaps frequent, binge drinking.