How to Make a Beer Hangover-Proof

Scientists at Australia's Griffin University brewed their wonder-beer by adding electrolytes to the water used to make it. They made test batches of regular and "light" beer, and then gave the beer to volunteers who had just done a vigorous (and potentially dehydrating) workout.

The research team found that light beer with electrolytes was three times more hydrating than regular beer. Unfortunately, regular beer with electroyltes added showed no advantages over regular beer brewed without the electrolytes. Moreover, the Australian scientists reported that participants in the trial could not taste the difference between light beer with electrolytes and regular beer with electrolytes, which suggests that both beers tasted bad. Most connoisseurs of beer readily distinguish between light beer and regular beer, and electrolytes like potassium usually have a bitter taste. And even if you don't care how your beer tastes, the Griffin University's creation is not yet commercially available.

So what can you do to continue drinking regular beer while minimizing your hangover the next day?

• Thirst and fatigue are usually the worst symptoms of a hangover. Anything you can do to minimize thirst, such as drinking beverages with electrolytes (for example, Gatorade) the next day, will help you get over a hangover faster.
• Drinking coffee when you get home instead of the next morning can help you sleep better.
• Drinking a glass of water when you get home--if you have bladder control--can help you sleep better and feel better the next morning.
• If you have migraines, be careful how much you drink. People who have migraine headaches get hangovers from less alcohol.
• Ginseng products help the liver metabolize alcohol--but the "ginseng" you can buy at a convenience store probably is not real ginseng. You will need to have a real-ginseng product on hand to take when you go to bed for maximum effects.
• Pre-drinking, as researchers call it, makes hangovers worse. Don't drink before you go out with your friends just so you will be less inhibited about drinking once you join them.
• Asian pear juice seems to increase mental awareness (which may or may not be a good thing) when drunk by people suffering a hangover.
• Smoking increases the effects of alcohol and makes hangovers worse. The liver has limited amounts of detoxifying enzymes and sometimes can't handle the toxins released in both activities at the same time.
• Melatonin helps men get to sleep after a night out drinking, but it is less helpful for women, especially women who are on estrogen-replacement therapy.
• Hangover headaches are aggravated by a chemical called acetate. Avoid vinegar-based dressings, pickles, and sushi before drinking recreationally.
• Be careful about any Traditional Chinese Medicine remedies for hangover. Those that contain kudzu () can "cure your hangover by making it so bad you won't want to drink again.

See Also: Bacteria In Wine May Bring Health Benefits

The Griffin University researchers were not the first people ever to brew a beer with electrolytes. A craft beer known as Er Boqueron, produced in La Socarrada brewery in Xativa, Spain, is made with Mediterranean sea water and is famous for not causing hangover. If you can't find Er Boqueron, however, try the recommendations above.