Ohhhhhh, never again

Holiday time is hangover time. Does anything work? What about those products widely sold in food and pharmacy aisles? What drinks most contribute to a hangover?


Drink moderately.

Don't drink on an empty stomach.

Know your limits. The less you weigh, the more likely you are to get intoxicated. Women usually get drunker on less. (For a chart showing blood alcohol content and body weight, go to DUI Lawyers, www.duilawyers.org/alcohol-impairment-chart.html).

Don't drink more than one alcoholic drink an hour. Alternate with lots of water throughout the time you are drinking and the next day.


Five to seven standard drinks consumed over four to six hours almost always cause a hangover.

Blending any sugary drink with alcohol makes a hangover worse.

Champagne often has high sugar content that triggers symptoms.


Congeners, toxic byproducts of distillation and formation, are found in higher amounts in wine, brandy, tequila, bourbon, whiskey and other dark liquors. That's why experts have advised drinkers to consume light-colored alcohol, such as vodka.

Acetaldehyde breaks down into a more benign compound, says Dr. Edward Rosick, assistant professor of medicine at Michigan State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine, but when you drink too much, or too quickly, it accumulates faster than your body can handle, causing hangovers, he says.


Check the label for alcoholic content. Look for a wine with alcohol content of less than 14 percent when you are consuming more than two glasses.

Some wines, particularly those produced in warmer climates where sun raises the sugar content in grapes, have higher alcoholic content. Certain California wines, for example, have as much as 25 percent more alcohol than French wines, says Elie Boudt, owner of Elie Wine Company in Royal Oak, Mich. Zinfandels also tend to have higher alcoholic content.

Price is a clue to a better aftermath, says Larry Shade, owner of Gibb's World Wine Wines in Detroit.

Cheaper jug wines have higher sulfur and sugar content that causes more hangovers, he says. "You do pay the price for overindulging" in cheap wines, he says.


An old myth, eating before you drink alcohol, does not prevent a hangover; it only slows the body's absorption of alcohol. Same with drinking coffee. It makes you more alert but does nothing for a hangover. Once the caffeine runs out, the pain will be back.


The Internet is filled with home remedies and folklore, from downing greasy foods to swallowing two ibuprofen before bedtime. The official word from science? Nothing works, says a British Medical Journal analysis.

Aspirin and ibuprofen are highly acidic and may irritate your stomach or cause bleeding.

"No compelling evidence exists to suggest that any conventional or complementary intervention is effective for preventing or treating alcohol hangover," the authors concluded.


Chaser Plus, a hangover remedy from the Novi-based Living Essentials, is sold widely at chain pharmacy, food and vitamin stores,

Price: $5.99 for a 10-pack, but it may be as little as $4.99 on the Internet, says Carl Sperber, marketing director for Chaser Plus. He recommends stocking up because the company's biggest sales are between Christmas and New Year's Day. "On New Year's Eve, it's hard to find Chaser in the stores," he says.

How it works: Take two pills with your first drink, and two more three to four hours later.

"It works like a fish filter," Sperber says. "It grabs onto the congeners and keeps them in your digestive tract," not the bloodstream, he says. The pills contain homeopathic ingredients, particularly an activated calcium carbonate and activated charcoal ingredients, Sperber says.

Results: There are no published studies, though Sperber says the company has tried. Customers tell the firm "it works great on red wine and maybe not as good if you're pounding beers all night, " Sperber says.

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