Rough New Year's Eve? Try these hangover remedies

Jane Burns — 1/01/2009 7:47 am

On New Year's Day, the staff at the Nau-Ti-Gal know all its brunch customers might not be feeling 100 percent because of how they celebrated New Year's Eve. That's why a "nurse" named Carissa will be available to tend to the ailing.

Carissa will have a wet towel to soothe those who imbibed a little too much the night before. And she'll hand them a potion that might help, too, although it won't help as much as not having had too much to drink in the first place.

Such is the case with the day after. Everyone knows what they did to cause themselves pain, but they rarely learn to avoid it. So instead, for centuries, people try to come up with a cure that just might ease the pain.

"There's nothing to cure a hangover except time and water," said Robert von Rutenberg, one of Nau-Ti-Gal's owners, "but that doesn't sell too well when you're trying to promote brunch."

That hasn't kept people from trying anything and everything, however. Some have a grain of truth to them, such as a mimosa (champagne and orange juice), not so much for the champagne but because orange juice is a good idea. Another trick uses fruit in a different way: A Puerto Rican "cure" is said to be found by rubbing half a lemon under one's drinking arm beforehand.

At the Nau-Ti-Gal's New Year's Day brunch, Nurse Carissa will also hand out a drink to those suffering from a hangover. The "remedy" includes club soda, bitters, lemon juice and a splash of Tabasco sauce.

"It's a little more than a shot, just enough to really jolt your system a little bit," von Rutenberg said. "You want to down it quick, then you'll be concentrating on the burn in your throat and not the hurt in your head."

The hangover -- usually the flu-like symptoms of a headache, aches and nausea -- is the body's complex reaction to the very simple act of drinking too much. Scientifically, it's the body's attempt to get rid of the alcohol and its metabolic byproducts. It is also complicated by dehydration, because alcohol is a good diuretic.

"It's the body's natural attempt to get rid of the booze," said Susan Smith, a professor of nutritional sciences at UW-Madison. "The reality is it just happens with time."

But the other reality is people try other things anyway. When Tex Tubb's Taco Palace and Eldorado Grill owner Kevin Tubb worked in Austin, he and his co-workers had to show up at 5 a.m. to begin a lengthy brunch preparation. So in order to get going, he would drink a "Sunny Side Up" -- orange juice, two whole raw eggs and five shakes of Tabasco.

"Sometimes showing up at 5 o'clock was kind of rough, and that would be my start," he said.

At Tex Tubb's Taco Palace, patrons can order a South Austin Lip Lock -- a cup of coffee and a Lone Star beer.

"The thought of a Lone Star and a cup of coffee makes me want to gag, but it's something they like in Austin," Tubb said.

Tubb also has a drink called the Tex Mex, a Lone Star beer with a shot of tequila in it. That's the kind of drink that falls into the "hair of the dog" category -- just another drink to cut the effects of the other drink.

"That doesn't cure it; it just postpones it," said Rich Hoard, a bartender at the Blue Moon. "That's what binges are made of -- you're right back there and faster than before."

The phrase "hair of the dog" dates back to Shakespeare's time and denotes a folk remedy of putting the hair of whatever bit you into a wound to cure rabies. Hangover "cures" take on the same logic.

It's a theory that goes into many morning drinks, such as the traditional Bloody Mary, Bailey's and coffee, a Suffering Bastard (gin, rum, ginger ale and lime juice) or a Bellini.

Coffee doesn't work, Smith says, because it is also a diuretic that only adds to the problem of dehydration. It does help if what the drinker is feeling is caffeine withdrawal, though.

"Coffee does not reverse the effects of alcohol," she said. "All you get is a wide-awake drunk."

Smith says there are four main components to battling a hangover. One is water, to compensate for the dehydration, and to flush out the lactates and ketones, the acids that are helping to cause discomfort. Another is aspirin, an analgesic or an over-the-counter antacid such as Alka-Seltzer.

"That doesn't prevent the hangover; it just masks the symptoms," she said.

Another key element is food, Smith said. A light, healthy meal with fruit, toast and eggs is best.

"The eggs will have a little protein, toast will have some carbs, the fruit will have some water, as well as vitamins and minerals."

The fourth step is simple, Smith said: a multivitamin to replace what the body lost. But it's important to not go overboard, she added, and to stick with vitamins that are only 100 percent of the daily recommended allowances.

The "hair of the dog" remedies just postpone the inevitable, she said.

"You can have the alcohol; it will make you feel better (because you) forget about the alcohol, but you can get the same effect by dropping something on your toe. It distracts you," she said.

Joe Kline, a UW emergency department physician, agreed.

"It's just a natural thing," he said. "The key things are hydration and rest, and resuming a good dietary pattern. It just takes time."

But for every practical tip such as healthy eating and rest, there are drinks with eggs or Tabasco sauce to test the mettle of the previous day's drinker.

"I think a lot of that is more bravado, those sort of rituals," Kline said. "They seem difficult, so by doing it mentally you bring yourself into the brave world of forging ahead.

"I think it's more symbolic of what you did to yourself -- you want to punish yourself and get back to your day."

Sunny Side Up

8 ounces orange juice

2 whole raw eggs

5 shakes Tabasco sauce

Source: Kevin Tubb

Nau-Ti-Gal Hangover Remedy

4 ounces of club soda

3 shakes of bitters

Dash of Tabasco sauce

Squeeze or teaspoon lemon juice

Source: von Rutenberg family