December 29, 2002 -- The London Sunday Times

The morning after.  It takes more than water to cure a hangover. Sally Brown suggests ways to get back on track

A hangover is a complex condition. We’re told it’s mainly caused by dehydration, because alcohol has a diuretic effect on the body. But who hasn’t staggered in, downed two pints of water — and still woken up feeling terrible?

"A review of scientific studies on hangovers concluded that hydration attenuates, but doesn’t relieve, hangover symptoms," says the dietician Lyndel Costain. "In other words, drinking lots of water will make a difference, but it won’t stave off a hangover completely."

And don’t we know it. If only we woke up simply feeling thirsty after a night on the booze... Instead, we feel nauseous, shaky, tired and irritable, and invariably have a thumping headache.

Dehydration is partly the cause of that splitting headache: your brain cells actually shrink as they lose water. But it’s also due to the loss of electrolytes and essential salts such as potassium and sodium that maintain nerve and muscle function.

"Even a slight electrolyte imbalance can leave you feeling tired, weak and headachy," says Costain.

But the strangest symptom is what committed drinkers call "the fear" — emotional highs and lows combined with a dose of paranoia, caused by very low blood sugar. Alcohol attacks the body’s store of glycogen, an important energy source kept in the liver. You wake up with very low blood-sugar levels, and it leaves you feeling both starving and nauseous. But it can also affect your concentration and emotional stability. "The brain uses glycogen for fuel, so low levels will affect how it functions," says Costain. "Plus, studies using brain scans have shown that a hangover causes a depression in the cortex that co-ordinates motor and auditory responses. That could be why work feels so much harder."

Thankfully, there is a certain amount you can do to relieve the symptoms. Light-coloured drinks contain fewer congeners (toxic by-products of the distillation process) than darker drinks. The morning after, medical experts recommend drinking lots of water, taking a nonaspirin painkiller such as ibuprofen, eating carbohydrates for energy, and leaving at least 48 hours between "I’ll never drink again!" and the inevitable "Well, maybe just one glass of wine..."

Sob’r-K
The claim: "A natural form of ‘superactivated’ carbon that soaks up the alcohol and filters it out of your body" (£11.50 plus £8 shipping for 60 pills; http://www.hangovercure.com/).
The expert’s view: "Activated charcoal is used in hospitals to treat poison victims. It absorbs the poison, which then passes out through the stools. But the relatively tiny amount here is unlikely to have any effect."
The tester’s comments: "Wondrous. Nothing made up for the chronic lack of sleep, but I didn’t feel hungover at all."

Farmacia Urban Healing Hangover Kit
The claim: "Protects the liver, increasing your body’s ability to detox." Includes milk-thistle tincture, 1,000mg of vitamin C, dandelion, peppermint and marshmallow extracts (£14; 0870 111 8123).
The expert’s view: "Studies suggest milk thistle helps alcoholic liver disease. But it needs to be taken regularly, and there’s no evidence it helps hangovers. The vitamin C, however, will fight free radicals."
The tester’s comments: "The milk thistle was so vile I almost preferred to be hungover. The vitamin C drink was fine, but I still felt awful until I took a Nurofen and ate some crisps."

Silicol gel
The claim: "Has absorbent properties that neutralise excess acidity, absorb toxins, irritants and cell residues and carry them safely out of the body" (£6.99 for 200ml, from Holland & Barrett).
The expert’s view: " It could slow down the rate of alcohol absorption, which may reduce the severity of a hangover."
The tester’s comments: "Unpleasant oily taste and texture. I didn’t have a hangover the next morning, so perhaps it works."

Fried breakfast
The claim: "Hardened drinkers swear by the full English fry-up" (about £4).
The expert’s view: "You’re replacing lost salts and providing carbohydrate to restore blood sugar. Eggs contain cysteine, an amino acid that fights toxins, but I doubt one or two would make any difference."
The tester’s comments: "Felt better, but very lethargic."

Folklore forms advice for morning after hangovers

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW -- Dec 19, 1999

From hangnails to allergy attacks, the multitude of products in your local drug store have got just about every ailment known to man covered. But with the approach of New Year's Eve, the corner pharmacy remains unable to treat one ailment that will affect more of its customers than any other: the hangover.

It doesn't take the turnover of a new year - or century - to precipitate an outbreak of hangovers. The tiredness, nausea and headache of a whopping, post-party hangover are as common and tedious a part of holiday revelry as heartburn, unwanted relatives and the umpteenth rendition of Nat King Cole's ubiquitous "Christmas Song."

Fortunately, for those planning to overindulge during the approaching holiday season, several herbal and chemical cures for hangovers are on the market, promising at least temporary relief from the eggnog blues.

Looking in drug stores and pharmacies won't net much in the way of hangover cures, says Tom Yankovec, president of Minneapolis-based LifeStyle Marketing, Inc. But there is help available in other places, he says.

Yankovec's company manufactures Sob'r-K, a carbon-based medication said to drastically reduce the body's ability to absorb alcohol. Sold widely in Europe and Asia, Sob'r-K has only become available in the United States since 1996.

Today, the caplets, which contain a fine, black charcoal powder, can be found in handy foil packets in liquor stores and hanging amongst liquor bottles in bars.

In keeping with the times, Yankovec says the biggest sales outlet for Sob'r-K has proven to be the Internet, a forum where the patented medication can be presented with the lengthy background and research information that Yankovec says is essential for marketing such a revolutionary product.

"Retail drug stores don't really want to invest the time to explain what Sob'r-K does, but in Europe (where the pills are marketed as ToxOver) and Asia (where it's known as SorbSin) we sell it in stores where people are more accustomed to natural detoxicants," Yankovec says.

Through the company's exhaustively detailed Web site, it becomes as clear as gin how the activated carbon in Sob'r-K - the same chemical substance used widely in hospital emergency rooms to detoxify patents who've suffered alcohol poisoning - works to filter out impurities in the bloodstream.

When two of the 500 milligram capsules are taken every hour while drinking, Yankovec claims a noticeable reduction in the immediate effects of alcohol (slurred speech, increased blood alcohol level). The dreaded hangover waiting to assault drinkers the next day should arrive in a gentler form, as most of the toxins that cause dehydration, nausea and other hangover staples are prevented from reaching the bloodstream.

However, cures using a variety of herbal supplements are old hat amongst Chinese herbalists and homeopaths, says Dan Denlinger, supplement and herb buyer at the East End Food Co-Op, in Point Breeze.

The store's vast selection of preservative-free foodstuffs and organic produce recently has been bolstered by an herbal supplement department that contains several cures for the holiday mornings after.

Among the most popular products is an herbal tea concentrate made from an extract of the roots from kudzu vine. Denlinger says the HerbaSway teas, developed by acupuncturist and biochemist Dr. Herman Zhou, contain daidizn, a naturally occurring plant compound (or phyto-estrogen) of the kudzu vine and soy bean. When ingested, daidzin acts as a natural toxicant blocker, much like the processed carbon in Sob'r-K.

The East-End Food Co-Op has other means to eliminating bloodshot eyes, aching livers and those mornings when we insincerely swear to never touch another drop of alcohol, including a line of vitamins and supplements containing zinc, an element Denlinger recommends as an anti-inflammatory agent in healing wounds.

"It's extremely important the day after a night of heavy drinking to get at least 50 milligrams of zinc and a multivitamin, as well. Water is also extremely important because your kidneys are working hard while you're drinking to clear all the alcohol out of your system ... you get dehydrated and lose vitamins at the same time," he says.

At Squirrel Hill's Goldenseal health food store, specific cures for the multiple symptoms of a hangover aren't a specialty, but sales staffer Melissa Traub suggests placing a tablet of the homeopathic remedy Nuxvomica under the tongue before a bout at the bars, which is a natural herbal remedy for stomach upset.

Traub also suggests attacking alcohol's diuretic side (which causes dehydration via frequent urination), by fortifying the body with vitamins B and C. A reloading of electrolytes also helps speed the recovery period after the office Christmas party. Electrolytes are readily available in popular sports drinks such as Gatorade.

At LifeStyle Marketing, Inc., where Yankovec is so enthusiastic about his company's hangover remedy, he claims the pills are useful as a dietary supplement for overall improved health and even a catalyst for hair growth.

But even Yankovec claims the best and most reliable hangover cure doesn't come in pill or liquid form.

"Not drinking at all seems to work best," he says.

LifeStyle Marketing, Inc., can be reached at (888) 774-2760 or http://www.lsm-inc.com

Hung up on hangovers

Bartenders and heavy drinkers agree that abstinence from alcohol is the surest way to avoid hangovers during the holidays and throughout the year.

But once the toasts have begun and the evening's first champagne cork is unleashed from its bottle, steering clear of hangovers is about as likely as avoiding second and third trips to the leftover turkey.

At local drug stores, pharmacists stock no over-the-counter hangover remedies, although staffers at the Eckerd Drug Store, Downtown, advise against taking ibuprofen or Tylenol for hangovers as the active ingredients in both of these pain relievers might further inflame liver tissues already affected by drinking (this is backed up by studies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine).

Other popular hangover cures, which range from a decidedly nihilistic panacea favored by comedian W.C. Fields (another drink, only stronger than last night's) to the bizarre (a concoction of tomato juice, bitters and Worscestershire sauce), are far less scientific and mostly centuries-old family remedies promising varying degrees of success.

Anyone seeking relief from too much holiday cheer might feel better after trying any of the following hangover cures. Be forewarned, however. Their effectiveness is based on purely anecdotal evidence.

Eating fruits and vegetables during a hangover helps replace many of the vitamins and nutrients that were washed out of your system during heavy drinking. The potassium in bananas is especially helpful as a pain reliever.

Although British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's typical evening libations included wine, scotch, gin and several pints of beer (and he lived to be 90!) your digestive system might not be of such stout constitution. Avoid mixing different types of drinks in a single outing.

Drinking a glass of water in between drinks might make your stomach feel full and your body less dehydrated due the diuretic properties of alcohol.

Eating before a night out at the bars can help absorb much of the alcohol before it enters your bloodstream. Heavy drinking on an empty stomach is a sure fire way to a vicious hangover.

Dark-hued drinks - such as red wine, bourbons, scotches, porters and stout beers - contain greater levels of toxins known as tannins that require greater effort by the liver and kidneys to purge from your system. Clear alcoholic beverages still can produce hangovers, but with less adverse effect on the body.

Head hurt? Try these hangover remedies

Troy Graham, Clks Publishing

Jan. 2, 1998

Ooooh, I'll never drink again.

The world's most often uttered -- and broken -- New Year's resolution will be heard around the world again today as millions of people greet 1998 with a pounding headache, sour stomach and aching body.

While the New Year's Day hangover may be as traditional as Dick Clark -- and even more timeless -- it isn't much fun.

The first hangover cure was probably concocted the morning after alcohol was invented the perfect remedy has been sought after ever since. For the most part hangover cures are an unscientific artform. There are as many individual cures as there are mixes of drinks that can lead to a hangover.

One website, Roc Jaw's Hangover Cure Collection, lists over 100 contributions Vitamin C, pure oxygen, and fast food from McDonald's are some of the more popular remedies.

"An hour or two before you go to bed, drink two to three glasses of water, a glass of orange juice, and six Flintstones vitamins (the little Barney's are my favorite), "offered Melvin J.

Another contributor said Dr. Seltzer's hangover Helper, found in most convenient stores, the "best cure there is."

"The only thing more effective is abstinence," said John L. "of course. I would never be a party to such radical thinking."

The Virtual Bar website offered a bit more scientific advice. Hangovers are caused by dehydration. It said, the website recommends replenishing the body with high vitamin foods like bananas or tomatoes. The effect of tomatoes may also half explain the morning after tradition of Bloody Mary's, the site said.

"The other half, of is more alcohol -- "hair of the dog" -- acts to relax your shattered nerves and numb the pain in the head, "it said. "But, more alcohol is also a great stop on the road to alcoholism, not a habit I'd suggest."

There is, however, one scientifically supported hangover cure. Sob'r-K, an all-natural pill containing activated charcoal, is endorsed by Dr. James Schaefer, a leading expert in alcohol use for the University of Minnesota, said Tom Yankovec, president of Lifestyle Marketing.

The activated charcoal cleanses the impurities and toxins in the alcohol, which are real cause of hangover, Yankovec said from his St. Paul, Minn., office. Yankovec always had a strong aversion to alcohol, a problem in his business when he had to entertain clients, he said. One night, however, after drinking six or seven drinks, he tried Sob'r-K. "I never drank that much in my life," he said. "The next morning I felt great.

It took three years for Yankovec and his partners to get all the rights of the product from a bankrupt pharmaceutical company and test the pill. They have marketing the cure to bars and liquor stores for a year now, he said. In the future they want to get pill in drug stores and health stores and health stores like GNC he said.

Until Sob'r-K comes to West Virginia, you can always try one of Roc Jaw's recipes: "In a sherry glass mix: one raw egg, one tablespoon Worchestershire sauce, one soupspoon red pepper."

BBC NEWS, Thursday, December 24, 1998

Hangovers: The number one festive illness

A major preventable illness will affect 75% of people who drink to excess over the Christmas period.

Characterized by headache, nausea, dizziness, irritability, thirst and fatigue - and in some cases, tension, paleness, tremors, vomiting, heartburn, unsteady gait and loss of appetite - it is something most people will experience during the festive season - a hangover.

While everyone knows how to get one, few will agree on what cures them. The only thing doctors agree on is that if you want to avoid a hangover, drink only in moderation or not at all. However, hangovers will vary depending on the individual and the form in which the alcohol is consumed.

The cause of a hangover

Hangovers are thought to be caused by an excess of toxins in the blood system. The body cannot process and get rid of them as quickly as required.

"Dr. James Schaefer is a research professor at the department of anthropology at Union College in Schenectady, New York. He is also a specialist in the use of alcohol, and has conducted trials comparing different types of hangover cure. He says a hangover manifests itself in physical and psychological reactions that are normally associated with an overdose. However, the exact source of the toxins responsible is uncertain. "The toxins may be produced within the human system, may be introduced from outside, or a combination," he says. "Ethanol itself, and the by-products of alcohol metabolism (breakdown process) by the liver, especially acetaldehyde, which is thought to be highly toxic, are typical culprits. Our bodies produce enzymes to attack these agents but they only work at set rates, thus the accumulation - the excess - we have the next day makes us feel ill." Some of the toxins come from the drink itself, he says. "Alcoholic beverages themselves have toxins, the by-products of fermentation and distillation, called congeners." Some drinks have more congeners than others. Cheap spirits, and especially cheap whisky, and cheap champagnes are among the worst culprits. The drinks with the lowest number of congeners are the more expensive spirits that have been distilled three or four times, and in particular gin and vodka. Red wine can also cause a headache because it contains tyramine, a substance that can cause severe headaches.

Variations in individuals

The symptoms of a hangover are exacerbated by dehydration. This occurs because alcohol acts as a diuretic, which means it makes you urinate more than you consume. As a result, anyone who drinks a lot of alcohol may lose more fluid than they consume, even if they are drinking steadily. While 75% of those who drink to excess can expect a hangover, the other 25% of the population will not suffer, Dr. Schaefer estimates. Some people experience severe reactions to alcohol and acetaldehyde. He says: "Upwards of 50% of all people from the Far East, for example, show a facial - and sometimes a full body - flush. This is caused by an excess of capillary blood to the surface due to alcohol's dilatory effect to the veins - they get warm, sweat, have high heart rate and feel ill." This can be caused by just a few drinks and happens because they have a low metabolism rate for acetaldehyde, he says. Doctors also advise people of smaller build to drink less, as it takes their body longer to process the alcohol.

Is there a cure?

Once a hangover has kicked in, time is the only cure. There are, however, ways to alleviate the symptoms.

Most doctors advise: Aspirin or ibuprofen to take care of the headache; Drinking fluids - especially before going to bed - to offset dehydration; Eating light foods high in carbohydrates and fructose (a natural sugar in fruit juices and honey) to calm nausea. Ibuprofen may help more if the first dose is taken before going to sleep, although it may increase the risk of liver damage when taken with excessive alcohol.

Dr. Schaefer says many remedies have been tried. As a cure proves so elusive, most have focused on prevention. While some have some medical backing, such as drinking water before going to bed, taking vitamins and taking painkillers before going to bed, others are more bizarre. These include eating lard or butter before drinking to "grease the gut" and never starting or never stopping drinking.

Absorption rates

Other methods involve slowing down the rate at which the body absorbs alcohol, so that it can process it at a steady rate without a build up of excess toxins. One way of doing this is to avoid highly carbonated drinks such as champagne. Eating foods high in protein - like fish, nuts and beans - before drinking is also thought to slow down the alcohol absorption rate.

Pills are available over the Internet that claim to be able to prevent a hangover if taken regularly during a drinking session. They mimic the emergency treatment for alcohol overdoses, where the stomach is filled with a charcoal slurry and then pumped out. The pills, patented as "Sob'r-K, act as a "super absorbent in the gut, grabbing ethanol-hemoglobin compounds, congeners and related garbage", Dr. Schaefer says. These are then carried out of the body.

The best way to avoid a hangover is probably self-control, however, and if you get too many of them you should ask yourself why, he adds. "A hangover is always a sign that a person has consumed too much alcohol and should be used as a warning to examine reasons why alcohol consumption at those levels is needed in their lifestyle. "Perhaps cutting back or not drinking are worthy alternatives."

P.O.V. Magazine, December 1997 (Q&A)

Q: How Do I cure a Hangover?

A: IN ANCIENT GREECE, IT WAS BELIEVED that if a heavy drinker donned a ring of parsley on his head, he could avoid a hangover the next day. It's probably no coincidence that the lowly herb soon went from hangover "cure" to innocuous sideline garnish, where it has remained for the last five thousand years.

Truth is, it's difficult to ward off the evils of The Morning After. And while you'll most likely feel less and less post partying pain as the ugly college years recede from your memory, there are still those late, kamikaze nights when you just know you're going to wake up feeling like something angry assaulted your brain-and then died in your mouth. Here's how to help avoid that not-so-fresh feeling.

WHY, GOD, WHY? As in, why do I exist? Why did I make a commitment to watch musical theater in six hours? And more importantly, exactly, am I hung over? Modern science has your answer. According to the Encyclopedia of Medicine, the chief cause of hangovers are "congeners," by-products of alcohol fermentation found in high concentrations in such typically evil culprits as red wine, bourbon and brandy. Dr. James M. Schaefer, a professor at Union College who has spent time studying hangovers and ways to reduce or prevent them, adds, "Over consumption of alcohol also produces an overabundance of acetaldehyde, which acts as a potent toxin-poisoning the system.

TAKE TWO AND CALL ME IN THE MORNING. Hangover cures are like hurling stories-everyone's got one. Remedies of lore range from sex and creative food concoction (burnt toast with honey, extra-greasy cheeseburgers, egg rolls and milk) to more beer, masturbation, bong hits and Bloody Marys. And while the "wake and drink" a.k.a. "hair o'the dog") remedies work to a degree-primarily because they raise your blood-alcohol level-if you're consistently curing your hangovers by drinking more, you're dangerously close to setting foot in Ed McMahon territory.

Instead, your best bet is to down a couple glasses of water before hitting the sack and take some anti-inflammatories. The water rehydrates, the aspirin relieve the nagging inflammation of your brain, and, with luck, you wake up feeling like the Zest shower guy.

ACTIVATE THAT CARBON. We're sure you don't go out every night and declare, "look out, I'm going to get plastered." But if, say, you're going out for a business dinner that you know will entail networking/bonding/drinking like a fish, you may want to consider popping an activated carbon pill. If taken before, during and after drinking, activated carbon absorbs the toxins that cause hangovers. Best of all, it's available over-the counter. Our favorite, "Sob'r-K, can be ordered by calling 888-774-2760.

Or, then again, you could always gasp!--drink slower; a normal, healthy liver can break down about a drink an hour. Which is better than waking up a vowing, as we all do "to never drink again." It's a nice thought, at least.

Cheryl Della Pietra

HANGOVER HINTS

(Earth Weekly News 1-18-98)-What causes hangovers? You may be surprised to find out it's not alcohol.

The substances that cause hangovers are impurities, called congeners, found in some alcoholic drinks-not the alcohol itself.

Typical hangover symptoms include headache, halitosis, thirst, gastric irritation, fatigue and dizziness.

The best method to ward off a hangover involves activated charcoal. That substance is often used to "filter" whiskeys and produce less of a hangover by removing many of the congeners before they are absorbed into the body.

If you know you'll be in an environment where you may overindulge in alcohol, consider using activated carbon pills prior to, during or after drinking, as they line the stomach and intestines.

One brand, Sob'r-K, is made from a patented, all-natural type of activated carbon that has been proven to be the most effective for the adverse effects of alcohol. The pills have no side effects.

Hangover cure hard to find

by TOM JACKSON of The Tampa Tribune

December 31, 1997

TAMPA - Genuine hangover cures remain elusive, but lots of products claim to ease the symptoms of overindulgence.

Years of study by some of the finest scientific minds have, at last, determined this regarding the recipe of hangovers: It is far easier to get one than to cure one.

Indeed, when it comes to hangovers, "cure" may be a misnomer. Like the common cold, time remains the only reliable antidote.

However, it is unlike modern Americans to grimace and bear it; therefore, the market for the relief of symptoms is a lively one. Instructed to seek "hangover," your favorite Internet search engine will turn up nearly 9,000 hits, the vast majority of them suggesting one potion or another to counteract the effects of overindulgence.

Against all reasonable advice, many will welcome the New year by gulping to excess on an empty stomach instead of sipping conservatively after a full, fatty meal. Studies indicate three-quarters of those celebrants will awaken to these predictable, miserable effects, dry mouth, queasiness, pounding head, jittery nerves. In short alcohol poisoning.

Remarkable according to the Distilled Spirits Council and the National Institute for Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, no government agency has compiled the economic impact of America's hangovers. For the moment, they are content to point out that tomorrow, the country's unofficial National Hangover Day, is a holiday.

Anti-hangover recipes, to borrow an old line, are like hurling stories: Everybody has one. Usually spicy, often foul smelling, these potions seem designed more to punish, rather than comfort, as though they were concocted by disapproving mothers. Offbeat author Nic Van Oudtshoorng, an Australian compile 101 ""cures" for "The Hangover Handbook" (Mustang Publishing, 95 pages, $8.95), many of which contain raw eggs. Consider the ingredients of Hilda's Hangover Remedy, found on the World Wide Web: tomato juice, vinegar, lemon, onion, sugar, celery, Tabasco sauce and "salt and pepper to taste." To taste?

In fact, homegrown remedies frequently include Tabasco of Worcestershire sauce, or both.

While Tabasco spokesman Martin Manion put in a plug for peppers as endorphins promoters, he added this disclaimer from his New Orleans office: "It's really not something we can comment on scientifically. ... But if consumers find some solace in drinking Bloody Marys with a huge dollop of our product to help their hangovers, we have no objections."

Says Jonathan Goldberg, who works in quality assurance for Lea & Perrins, The Worcestershire bottlers, "I'm biased, because I like our product on everything, and for any reason. ... But I don't know what it is about hangovers that would require the use of Worcestershire sauce.

Among traditional modern elixirs, pharmacist caution against Alka-Seltzer and its frizzy kin. The culprit in the formula is aspirin, which tends to increase stomach acidity. For hangover headaches, try non-aspirin painkillers.

There also is enthusiasm among the health-food set for large doses of vitamins, primarily B-1 and C. Anecdotal evidence suggest the soothing properties of Yoo Hoo, the sweet, watery chocolate drink. From China comes a appetizing solution: two juicy tangerines, or a dozen ripe strawberries.

Morning-after sufferers have sought sure hangover remedies since shortly after the invention of fermentation. And every now and again, one promoter or another arrives beating the drum for the latest "sure cure."

Ancient claims of effectiveness are made for activated carbon and its ability to filter out congeners, the by-products of alcohol fermentation that ignite an overabundance in acetaldehyde, "a potent toxin" says James M. Schaefer, a Union (N.Y.) college anthropologist, doctor and frequent "Today" show guest.

The best of the activated carbon filters he's come across is Sob'r-K, packaged and distributed by Minneapolis-based LifeStyle Marketing. Schaefer directed a small double-blind study of the stuff among patrons Schenectady, N.Y., bar, with the results published last May.

According to the study, subjects who swallowed two 350mg tablets three times during the night - two before, two during, and two after drinking - suffered significantly reduced aftereffects.

"It seems to work," says Schaefer. "it stays in the gut and absorbs the impurities, then shunts them into fecal matter.

"I was really skeptical, but it has worked on me, more than once."

Schaefer cautions that Sob'r-K is not a preventive for drunk driving: Blood alcohol levels rise at a traditional rate. And he advises that the product is not a cure-all.

Says the doctor, "I always thought a hangover was a pretty good indicator you've had too much, and maybe you should take a look at your drinking habits."

The number for LifeStyle Marketing is: 1 888-774-2760.

Tom Jackson

 Twin Cities Reader September 25, 1996

The federal government's announcement earlier this week that the United States' trade deficit is larger than ever may not have knocked anyone off his or her barstool, but a local company has taken it upon itself to see that drinkers the world over soon will be able to raise a glass and reduce our nation's export-import imbalance at the same time.

St. Paul-based LifeStyle Marketing is "trying to balance the trade deficit 30 days after reaching an agreement with a European company to market up to one million patented hangover pills a week."

Thomas Yankovec, president of LifeStyle, says the pills, known as Sob'r-K in the United States, will be marketed through MPM Holding Company of Holland under the Toxorb. Yankovec says that while most hangover pills are little more than placebos, Sob'r-K "actually makes you feel better."

"It's the only hangover pill with a money-back guarantee and the only one that's patented," he says. "It's an all-natural product. You could eat 10 pounds of it with no adverse effect." (Gee does that mean we could drink 900 beers first?)

Yankovec rejects the notion that a product which dampens the consequences of drinking could encourage abuse. "our target market is people who are going out to have a good time, having a few drinks, and don't want to have side effects the next day, "he says.

The pills even has the endorsement of Dr. James Schaefer, former head of the University of Minnesota's Drug and Alcohol Department and a man LifeStyle calls the "Indiana Jones of Taverns."

--Andrew Putz

 Minnesota Sports, October 1996

Happy Hangover

If you can say Sob'r-K you may not need the product. It's a sobriquet for "happy hangover." Instead of taking aspirin and water before bed. Dr. James M. Schaefer of the University of Minnesota Drug and Alcohol Department recommends ingesting the product while you imbibe, because it uses carbon particles to absorb the impurities in alcoholic beverages. The impurities, he says, are the cause of hangovers. Take Sob'r-K as recommended, and you should wake up the next morning ready to pounce on the day instead of vice versa.

PREVENTING THE ALL-AMERICAN HANGOVER

Dr. James M. Schaefer

Research Professor of Anthropology

Union College, Schenectady, NY

A hangover is the result of drinking too much. Too much alcohol and the chemical soup that accompanies beer, wine and spirits. So much for cause and effect.

Those who have never suffered from a hangover, I can tell you that mere words cannot begin to describe the feeling of a Monster Coyote Hangover Morning. But for those who have even had a mild hangover, some of the following may ring true. You wake up and immediately want to go back to sleep. You feel weak, queasy, nauseated or actually retching, vomiting. Worse yet, the dry heaves, when there is nothing left to puke. You are clammy, warm, sweating and desperate to cool off. Your head is pounding. You are irritable and have mild to uncontrolled shakiness. Any noise seems amplified way beyond your level of tolerance and light from any source hurts your eyes like its a halogen strobe light from Hell. The inside of your mouth tastes like the Russian Army had just changed fatigues after a forced march. You are so flat that getting up is out of the question - even if you need to struggle to the commode or sink. At least the ceramic is cool. American Standard registers. Every cell of your body is screaming at you. And over and over you think -"If this is living, I would be better off dead." You are suffering the from an all-American hangover

Besides swearing off drinking, what can you do to reduce or eliminate hangovers in your future? Since a high blood alcohol level (exceeding .12 %) is often the culprit, the first and most important strategy is to learn to drink responsibly and within your bounds. This involves limiting your intake of alcohol to a few drinks per hour, eating food that keeps your stomach busy, avoiding salty snacks that make you thirsty, alternating alcoholic drinks with water or tasty, attractive nonalcoholic drinks, focusing on social activities, conversation, games, and meeting people. In other words, drink smart.

You might consider including a hangover remedy in your drinking strategy. In today's marketplace there are two types of hangover prevention products: an activated carbon caplet that you take before, during and after drinking, and those that primarily treat headache, unsettled stomach, replenish vitamins and certain herbs which you take the morning after the damage is done. You could use a folk remedy such as downing a raw egg with oysters, eating burnt toast, or taking a drink of the dog that bit you; the proverbial the 'hair of the dog.' There have been some crazy ideas to treat the hangover. But let's look at the contemporary products.

The first type (e.g., Hangover Helper or Sob'r-K), is a pharmaceutically refined activated carbon product that acts as a super-absorbent in the gut, where most alcohol is absorbed into the body. The activated carbon coats the lining of the stomach and small intestine trapping toxins, called congeners, which also contribute to hangovers. It prevents them from entering into the bloodstream. Activated carbon is a safe, natural product without side effects, save darker stools the day after its use. In my double-blind study of activated carbon versus a sugar pill, most respondents reported feeling much better upon waking up and feeling more "in control" during the evening of drinking at a bar where the study was conducted.

The morning after hangover remedies (e.g., Dr. Seltzer's Hangover Cure, Hangover Stopper, Clear Head) are usually a combination of an analgesic (aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen), a calcium carbonate of some sort, vitamins (B complex, C, E and A) and assorted herbal concoctions (willow bark, saw palmetto, yohimbe bark, etc.). While their effectiveness on hangovers has not been studied, these are included to relieve, restore, settle or flush out ones system.

So whether you are at an after business cocktail session, entertaining clients at dinner, or having a guys or gals night out, it pays to have a drinking plan in mind which might include a hangover preventative. By drinking smart and using activated carbon, for example, so you can enjoy your event and wake up fresh, feeling great, and ready to take on the day. Business deals should not suffer the pain of a hangover!

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JAMES M. SCHAEFER & ASSOCIATES, LLC

39 Schermerhorn Road, Schenectady, NY 12306 USA

518.393.8978 voice/fax/ 518.496.3107 cell/ 518.393.4190 alternate

Research Professor of Anthropology, Union College

http://www.lsm-inc.com/schaefer