Hair of the dog? That's so last Sunday.
Just in time for the weekend, a study has been published that suggests a potential hangover remedy in the form of a pill.
The latest issue of Nature Nanotechnology, a peer-reviewed journal, includes a paper written by a University of California, Los Angeles professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering who paired together enzymes that have a similar effect as liver cells.
Professor Yunfeng Lu and his research team placed alcohol oxidase and catalase enzymes in a miniscule capsule whose polymer wall was a mere nanometre thick (a billionth of a metre), allowing it to enter the alcohol molecule in tact. This, in turn, helped oxidize and remove alcohol from the body.
Worth noting here: The bodies tested were drunk mice, not university freshmen. Furthermore, the capsules were injected, not swallowed.
But at least the results sound more measurable than, say, a tall glass of coconut water or a plate of asparagus.
"Blood alcohol levels of the antidote test group were 15.8 per cent lower than the control group after 45 minutes, 26.1 per cent lower after 90 minutes and 34.7 per cent lower after three hours," according to Science Daily.
A video posted on Slate explains the study in the asinine tone of an infomercial. Whoever created the visual for the drunk mice probably went home to six-pack.
Indeed, the market for a pill-sized hangover cure would be huge. Granted, people will always be better off controlling their alcohol consumption than getting boozed up and making bad decisions. Because while the pill might aide the body, it can't do a thing for poor judgment.