back to article Want to avoid a hangover? DRINK MORE, say boffins

The juice of Korean pear Pyrus pyrifolia might just be the greatest discovery in all human history, as boffins think the fruit can reduce the severity of hangovers. Korean pears are often sold as “nashi pears” from Japan. The fruit is lighter than a European pear, boast slightly tart flesh, and a density somewhere between that …

  1. Zog_but_not_the_first
    Boffin

    I think

    The entire thing has been made up.

  2. Dan Paul

    This article brought to you by the....

    Korean Pear Marketing association. Hey, don't blame us if it all goes pear shaped........

  3. tony72
    Coat

    "inhibition of alcohol absorption"

    Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If it reduces your ability to get drunk as well, then as a hangover solution, it leaves something to be desired.

    I guess you could say that it doesn't pear thinking about.

    1. Steve Crook

      Re: "inhibition of alcohol absorption"

      You could say that, but you really shouldn't. Even if you managed to get to your coat, it wouldn't save you...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "inhibition of alcohol absorption"

        S'OK. He can be re-peared.

        1. Steve Crook

          Re: "inhibition of alcohol absorption"

          You're next.

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

          2. Captain DaFt

            Re: "inhibition of alcohol absorption"

            So you're after the pear of them, now?

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: "inhibition of alcohol absorption"

              This is the real reason I read El'Reg, well done guys, made my morning.

            2. Steve Crook

              Re: "inhibition of alcohol absorption"

              Yes, I'm going to remove their puneal glands.

              1. This post has been deleted by its author

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    No.

    If you want to avoid a hangover, you stay drunk. Now, where's my grant for the research programme to prove my theory? I will, of course, need additional test subjects.

    Beer icon, because.

    1. chivo243 Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: No.

      Where do I sign up?!

    2. Charlie Clark Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: No.

      Sadly? doesn't work for me. But I wholeheartedly support your grant application!

    3. Dr. G. Freeman

      Re: No.

      Research already been done.

      From 1964 to 2002, My Dad (may he enjoy whatever's after this life) stayed drunk, never passing for what is commonly known as sober.

      No hangovers recorded.

      It was an unplanned alcohol-free bank holiday that finished him off, 72 hours without a drink.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: No.

        @ Dr. G. Freeman; I can only go by what you've written, but if your father was that permanently drunk, then- with respect- it sounds like he had what medics would consider a large enough problem that the well-known physiological dangers of alcohol withdrawl could have been serious.

        However, I'm assuming these dangers would only be an issue to someone who was seriously dependent on alcohol and not "mere" heavy or binge drinkers?

  5. Khaptain Silver badge

    Hangovers are for a reason

    They are a reminder that what we are doing is not necassarily a wonderfull idea...at least not in major quantities. Major being pints,shots, glasses more than one can really handle

    Most drugs also have similair side effects, ie too much and you will be made to pay for your vice..

    Hangovers, cold turkey etc help to keep us alive...a little bit longer. If this pear juice really works then a lot of people will probably end up dying quicker.....but maybe that's not such a bad thing....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hangovers are for a reason

      Not really. If I am dehydrated and I drink one beer I may end up with a hangover, not because "it is a reminder" but because I started out dehydrated.

      Next time you are preparing for a marathon drinking session (college football Saturday tailgating being a timely example in the US) eat a handful of salt pills a couple hours before you start and drink 2 quarts/litres of water or Gatorade. Eat frequently and to excess (about twice your normal caloric intake) and chug a pint of water every hour or two.

      On those Saturdays I'm typically drinking ~20 beers (American "light" beers - 4-5% abv) and ~10 shots in a 15 hour period. So long as I do these things - and don't let myself forget (I set reminders in my phone to eat and drink water every two hours) I am completely fine the next day. Not ready to run a marathon or anything but no symptoms at all the next day other than feeling a bit bloated which may have something to do with the fact I probably gained 2 lbs thanks to all the calories from the deliberate overeating and the alcohol.

      The only real side effect is having to pee a lot after (though you pee a lot less while drinking, which is a good thing if there are lines) The salt tablets over-concentrate your blood with salt, which causes the body to retain fluid to try to decrease that salt level and thus prevents the dehydration alcohol typically causes that leads to the pounding headache. As that levels off sometime after you go to bed and into the next day and you begin to shed that fluid you are peeing like an old man with a bad prostrate.

      As for all the eating, not sure why but eating normally just doesn't cut it for feeling your best the next day. Maybe some of the alcohol is carried off un-absorbed by the food, or maybe the food helps carry off the toxins from processed alcohol your liver secretes. Either way, double your normal food intake seems to do the trick.

      1. Martin Budden Silver badge
        Boffin

        Re: Hangovers are for a reason

        Eating increases blood flow through the liver (via the hepatic portal vein). Perhaps this might be why it helps you?

      2. Martin Budden Silver badge
        Pint

        Re: Hangovers are for a reason

        If extra salt and extra calories are required, may I suggest pretzels as an excellent accompaniment to beer (the proper large freshly-baked German kind, not the disgusting small foil-packaged mockeries).

  6. MattPi

    Peachy juice

    I'm not sure why, but when I was younger we used to drink "Asian peachy juice" that seemed to help get over a hangover. We find it in Asian grocery stores and it was essentially crushed up peaches (or pears) in a surprisingly heavy can. Maybe it was coincidence but drinking a can or two seemed to get rid of the headache and give your angry stomach something to do.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Peachy juice

      Fruit juice will usually help you get over a night's overindulgence. Helps the body replace vitamins and minerals leeched by the alcohol.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I like nashi, I drink, I get hangovers. That's all.

    Also, the fruit is as much "Korean", as it is Chinese, Japanese and Taiwanese. These grow all over Asia.

  8. chivo243 Silver badge
    Windows

    1:1 ratio

    After a recent trip to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, I have found that for every beer/cocktail etc you need one glass of water too. We were at 3,350m or about 11,000 feet up and dehydration was a real issue. So, 1:1 seemed to help both dehydration and keeping the dreaded pounding head and queasy stomach at bay the next day. I will try this the next time me and the guys are out for a few pints.

    1. Ugotta B. Kiddingme
      Thumb Up

      Re: 1:1 ratio

      The only times I've been above 3km have all involved commercial aviation, so it definitely works at lower altitudes. I've used that formula for decades and, as a result, the last significant hangover I had was in 1982. Recently taught the formula to my now college-age son.

  9. Fink-Nottle
    Happy

    Some of Buddy Holly, the working folly

    Good Golly Miss Molly and fairs

    Hammersmith Palais, the Bolshoi Ballet

    Jump back in the alley, and nashi pears

  10. nilfs2
    Pint

    It already costs me a little fortune to get drunk

    Don't need no stinkin' pear!

  11. Velv
    Pint

    Being Pears, can you make Perry out of it? (Pear Cider for those who youfs out there).

    Best of both worlds :)

    1. Martin Budden Silver badge

      You certainly can! It's very easy to brew your own perry (and also apple cider). I have no idea if Nashi perry would be a naturally hangover-free booze though, I feel some research is required - cheers!

  12. sisk

    Erm....or water...

    When I was inclined to drink heavily (a habit which fell by the wayside well over a decade ago, when thinking straight became more interesting than losing my inhibitions) I usually matched my alcohol drink for drink with glasses of water. The only time I ever got a hangover was the one time that I didn't do so (New Years 2001....I don't remember a whole lot other than the floor attempting repeatedly to beat me up).

  13. M7S

    Borrowing liberally from Monty Python.....

    North or South Korean?

    ("When you're a king you have to know these sorts of things")

  14. Fungus Bob

    If this catches on...

    ...so much for the Post Pub Nosh Neckfiller articles.

  15. CrosscutSaw

    But!

    If you drink pear cider, it doesn't help. Ha.

  16. Ken Y-N
    Joke

    Japanese nashi pears did you say?

    This one will drive you to drink:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funassyi

  17. Bluto Nash

    Hell, if you wanna compare (-pear?)

    1 - Get soused

    2 - Prior to passing out in/on the bed/sofa/floor/yard, take either a good multivitamin or wonking great B-vitamin (B-12, usually), two 200mg ibuprofen, and two glasses of water. Hangover hang-overcome!

    1. auburnman

      Re: Hell, if you wanna compare (-pear?)

      I usually substitute the water in step 2 for tanning as much milk as I can manage before passing out; the extra fat seems to help and if you are still a bit wonky in the morning you can lie there a bit longer before you have to crawl off in search of food.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hell, if you wanna compare (-pear?) (Bad advice on Ibuprofen)

      My first cousin had serious kidney & liver failure from taking Ibuprofen (also acetaminophen) and drinking.

      She died because she could not get a transplant in time. Dialysis was PAINFUL and expensive and eventually could no longer compensate for the organ failure.

      1. x 7

        Re: Hell, if you wanna compare (-pear?) (Bad advice on Ibuprofen)

        " serious kidney & liver failure from taking Ibuprofen (also acetaminophen) and drinking"

        Obviously I don't know her circumstances, but the symptoms you describe are more consistent with a simple overdose of Acetaminophen (= Paracetamol in the UK)

  18. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
    Happy

    I have another solution

    I just don't get hangovers.

    I do sometimes drink non-alcoholic drinks during the evening, but only half the time, and that seems to make little difference. In order not to wake up thirsty, and with a horrible taste in my mouth, I drink as much as I can before going to bed. Which does substitute the waking up needing the loo problem, but I think that's preferable - and stops you over-sleeping.

    To make myself totally tip-top, I then have some fruit juice, bacon sarnie (or bacon and eggs) and a shower. I've never got hangovers, so the only problem for me is when I drink so much, or get so little time to sleep, that I'm still steaming drunk when I get up. Which isn't that nice.

    Sorry if that annoys the afflicted.

    1. Vic

      Re: I have another solution

      I just don't get hangovers.

      Nor I.

      I drink as much as I can before going to bed.

      I drink fluids all day, every day. I try to get about 6 pints of non-alcoholic drink down me every day. I started doing this when I was diving a lot - dehydration is a significant DCS risk factor - and it made me feel better. It also made my hangovers go away.

      I also drink a pint of full-fat milk before going out on a session, and I only drink decent drinks from clean glassware[1].

      the only problem for me is when I drink so much, or get so little time to sleep, that I'm still steaming drunk when I get up

      This is a serious problem for many people - driving the following day. It's really worth considering not going near the car for at least the morning of the following day...

      Vic.

      [1] Back in the '80s/'90s, it was popular to fit a UV tube over the bar to make everyone's shirts gleam. I often noticed that spilled beer would also glow green under such light - this, I am reliably informed, is down to the fluorescents in the dishwasher tablets, and means that the dishwasher isn't rinsing properly. That stuff gives you a headache, even if you haven't had all that much to drink...

  19. x 7

    25+ years ago I was told by a senior manager at Hoffman-LaRoche that their (unpublished) research clearly showed that large amounts of Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) cured hangovers and eliminated alcohol from the bloodstream

    The effect was said to be significant enough to be able to "beat" drink-drive tests. At the time the research was unpublished as they felt doing so would be unethical. I've no idea if it was ever subsequently released. Roche have (or had) a large business in vitamin supplements but refused to take advantage of what they knew

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