Don’t reach for that bloody mary next time after a night of drinking.
The idea that a drink aids hangover symptoms has been around since medieval times, but that doesn’t mean it works. Despite conventional wisdom, a new study found that the practice is ineffective.
“There’s no scientific evidence that having an alcoholic drink will cure a hangover. It will, at best, postpone one,” said Laura Veach, director of screening and counseling intervention services and training at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
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Hangovers occur when the elevated concentration of alcohol in the blood falls dramatically after drinking stops. Continuing to drink only delays the inevitable, according to Veach.
“Taking a drink the morning after may temporarily make you feel better because you’re putting alcohol back into the system,” Veach said in a statement. “But it doesn’t cure the hangover; it just sort of tricks you by masking the symptoms. They’re going to show up eventually.”