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You say you won’t blow it this New Year’s Eve…But we know how you can get! So, in yet another effort to help you manage your troubled lives, here’s the latest on hangover cure products and whether they actually work.
Blowfish for Hangovers – In spite of its stylish name (and its relatively hefty price) this magic cure is less magic and more a mashup of two age-old hangover remedies, aspirin, and coffee.
And although we did find it helpful in alleviating our debilitating headache, allowing us to begin crawling out of bed – we have to ask – why not just take two aspirin and spend the money that you’d be saving by passing on Blowfish, on a double expresso at Starbucks? Product Grade: D+
Forgiven – Described as the world’s first and only alcohol metabolizer and since this whole alcohol metabolization thing new to us, we’re going to have to take them at their word. And unlike Blowfish, Forgiven is caffeine free – so there’s that.
Basically what this product claims to do is increase the speed with which the body flushes alcohol from our system sooner. It also aims to help maintain a healthy electrolyte balance (that’s good right?), and is evidently an excellent source of anti-oxidants and vitamin C.
From our perspective Forgiven is basically a humongous shot of B vitamins with some minerals thrown in. Did it help us feel better? Somewhat. Did we feel better faster? Not at all sure about that. Product Grade: C
Hangover Naturals is an all-natural sucking candy (that incidentally doesn’t suck) that claims to alleviate hangover symptoms like nausea and dry mouth.
And like Forgiven it utilizes a battery of vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, B6, B12, and others – to help put an end to a hangovers many symptoms.
The product comes in three decent flavors (Raspberry, Ginger and Lime) and it uses its natural sugars to flush the alcohol out of your system more quickly and offer a boost of energy at the same time.
Of all the hangover products we sampled, we found this product the most effective in quelling that uncomfortable queasy stomach feeling – and that’s a big deal for us. Product Grade: B+
Klarkopf from Swiss Alpine Organics – Klarkopf comes from a Swiss organics company and it’s specifically formulated to prevent hangovers rather than treat them after the fact.
According to the company, hangovers result free radical cell damage that occurs when alcohol is broken down into a toxic compound called acetaldehyde.
And when too much alcohol is consumed, the body does not produce glutathione (whatever that is) fast enough to detoxify itself before the damage is done and you end up sick as a dog.
Klarkopf claims to work naturally by boosting the liver’s glutathione production, which helps to stop hangovers before they can occur.
We tested Klarkopf at last year’s SAVOR and after consuming 127 beers, the ACB crew rose reasonably early with only minor memory loss.
Was Klarkopf the reason we all woke feeling better than expected? Truthfully, who knows? But we fell for Klarkopf’s whole preventative, organic thing and their use of indecipherable terminology like acetaldehyde, so we’re in! Product Grade: A-
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