A while back, we wrote about how there isn’t enough research about hangovers, mostly because scientists don’t want to make drinking out of chemistry sets a regular thing. Also, because grants are kind of tied up at the moment. So, the latest in hangover research comes from China.
Chinese researchers finally have a theory on what a hangover really is. (Don’t laugh. Nobody knew.) They found evidence that a hangover is actually a chemical reaction from drinking alcohol where the ethanol consumed becomes acetaldehyde. That acetaldehyde causes the symptoms of a hangover, which include headaches, nausea, swearing off of alcohol entirely and then signing that pact with a beer.
The hangover subsides once all the acetaldehyde converts to acetate, which is harmless and may temporally boost brain performance. (Drink up, kid. You’ve got a test to ace.)
Long story short: they tested a bunch of drinks and found that Sprite and soda water speed up acetaldehyde to acetate conversion, or aldehyde dehydrogenase, which — to our surprise — is not the name of a fugitive Nazi war criminal.
So, that’s good news and bad news: good because Sprite is pretty easy to get a hold of, but bad because it pairs horribly with Seagram’s Seven Crown whiskey.