Grumble, nausea … and the mood is in the basement. What causes the hangover after excessive alcohol consumption and how it can be mitigated is still surprisingly unclear. Now a study provides new information. The results contradict the assumption that alcohol leads to water loss and that a supply of vitamins and minerals can curb the hangover. However, the researchers found a mitigating effect when taking a cocktail from plant extracts. However, which substances exactly cause the positive effect must first be clarified.
As is well known, wet, happy evenings with plenty of high-proof alcohol can have a bad aftermath: excessive alcohol consumption leads to discomfort and impairment of physical and mental performance. Veisalgia is the medical term for this. Popularly, there is a lot of “wisdom” about what triggers this so-called hangover and how you can prevent or drive it out. However, the scientific knowledge on the subject is rather vague. It is believed that the symptoms are triggered directly by the alcohol or by metabolic intermediates. However, water loss and the associated lack of electrically charged minerals (electrolytes) in the body are often cited as a cause.
On the trail of the cat
Researchers at the University of Mainz have now devoted a study to alcohol hangover. The biologists have investigated the extent to which alcohol loss leads to water loss and whether the hangover symptoms are weaker due to the intake of certain substances. 214 subjects between the ages of 18 and 65 participated in the study. One evening they consumed beer or white wine of their choice between 5 and 9 p.m. The average alcohol intake was 1.6 grams of alcohol per kilogram of body weight. With a weight of 60 kilograms, this corresponds to about 2.5 liters of beer, the researchers explain. As part of the experiment, they also recorded the extent of fluid intake and urine output in the individual test subjects.
For the actual experiment, the researchers randomly assigned the participants to three groups: 45 minutes before and immediately after drinking, they took one of three different water-soluble food supplements. The first group received a supplement containing certain plant extracts, vitamins and minerals as well as additional antioxidant compounds – steviol glycosides and inulin. The second group received a supplement without the plant extracts, while the third group received a placebo – a pure sugar solution. The plant extracts were extracts from acerola cherry, prickly pear, ginkgo, white willow and ginger root, the researchers report. As they explain, there were indications that these extracts could have a beneficial effect in the context of hangover symptoms.
Twelve hours after the “scientific feast”, the participants filled out a questionnaire about the type and intensity of the perceived hangover symptoms: They ranked them on a scale from zero to ten. As expected, there were strong personal differences in the intensity of symptoms among the participants. However, statistical methods could provide information on the effects of the supplements.
Plant extracts alleviate hangover symptoms
As the researchers report, they found no positive effects in the group that received only minerals and vitamins without the plant extract – the test subjects were comparatively poor as those from the placebo group. The test participants who took the plant cocktail, however, reported significantly less severe symptoms: their average headache intensity was 34 percent lower and nausea was 42 percent lower. Feelings of indifference or apathy were 27 percent weaker and their restlessness showed a 41 percent reduction compared to the placebo group.
The lack of an effect on the vitamins and minerals without the plant extracts, the researchers take as an indication that alcohol does not affect the body’s electrolyte and mineral balance, as is generally believed. Their evaluations also showed that the water content in the body was not significantly linked to the amount of alcohol consumed. “Our results indicate that alcohol-induced increased fluid excretion does not necessarily lead to a significant dehydration process,” write the scientists. According to them, the results now indicate that hangover symptoms are mainly caused by alcohol and its metabolites. And this effect can apparently be at least somewhat contained by plant extracts, as can be seen from the results.
So far, however, the researchers have not been able to determine which extract or which substance is responsible for the beneficial effect. “The underlying mechanisms still have to be clarified and certainly require further investigation,” the researchers write. “However, our results make it clear that an intervention against hangover symptoms is also of clinical significance,” says co-author Patrick Schmitt from the University of Mainz. According to him, future studies could now work out the active ingredient from the various plant substances, which is responsible for the positive effects against the hangover symptoms. “Then you could possibly also make a drug from this substance,” says Schmitt.
In the meantime, of course, there is a clearly effective way to curb the cat woe: just don’t overdo it with alcohol consumption!
Source: Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, technical article: BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, doi: 10.1136 / bmjnph-2019-000042