HANGOVER CURES FOR THE MORNING AFTER THE YEAR BEFORE! (From Barry And District News)

HANGOVER CURES FOR THE MORNING AFTER THE YEAR BEFORE!

IT'S got to be the day of the year when more people have sore heads than at any other time. New Year's Eve is the night, if any, when we overindulge. And that means New Year's Day is the record-breaker for hangovers. It's not the best of ways to start a brand new year, so what can we do?

Not drinking too much is the obvious answer. But if you do get carried away, there are a number of ways to feel better the morning after the year before. For instance, when Jeeves brewed up a mysterious concoction to get Bertie Wooster back on his feet after a night on the tiles, he knew what he was doing. And you can bet the potion contained an egg. Once considered to be an old wives' tale, it has been scientifically proved that an egg really CAN get to work on your hangover. New Scientist magazine got a dozen volunteers to overindulge and then try out various cures - marking how bad they felt on a league table of sickness, headache and tiredness. The volunteers tried out all kinds of remedies, ranging from a pint of water and sports drinks, which gave some relief, to a hair of the dog, which helped some wine and spirits drinkers.

But the cure which was said to help most was a food supplement from health food shops which contained the chemical N-acetyl-cystelene, or NAC. And as Jeeves could surely tell you, eggs also contain the chemical.

Morning after suffers have long insisted that a fried egg breakfast or a prairie oyster - a raw egg in Worcestershire sauce - can take away some of the symptoms of a hangover. We suffer because alcohol dehydrates the body as well as running down our sugar reserves. Minerals can also be lost - on a night like New Year's Eve we can be drinking steadily or heavily for many hours, and in effect poisoning our body. It's a cocktail of disaster that sends the liver into overdrive as it tries to deal with the alcohol in the bloodstream.

Experts recommend that the best way to take away a hangover headache is to take paracetamol, as aspirin can irritate an already-uneasy stomach. Some people believe in prevention rather than cure. There are those who swear by taking evening primrose oil, milk or orange juice before going out for a night's drinking, although there has been little research done to see if this has any effect. Herbalists say a drink of chamomile or peppermint tea can help to soothe the digestion, while aromatherapists recommend a long soak in a warm bath perfumed with a few drops of lavender to ease the sore head.

The hair of the dog cure, an alcoholic drink in the morning, may work for a while because the worst hangovers are caused as the liver does its best to deal with methanol from what you have drunk the night before. The extra drink sets the liver away dealing with pure alcohol instead, which eases the symptoms.

But don't get your hopes up - the effect is only temporary. And scientists say the only real way to avoid a hangover is not to drink at all.