Hanging in the New Year

By: Carl Hanson

Here are a few recipes for when a bumpy night has carried over into a bumpier morning.

The Trouble with Bubbles

Incidentally, I have a theory on why champagne hangovers can be the most ravaging of all. It's not the bubbles, I suspect, but the unhealthy way we often drink champagne: at parties where we're drinking late, we're drinking often, and without food or water on the side. Hit the dance floor, and we're dehydrating ourselves even more. When I drink champagne with dinner, I don't experience even the faintest of headaches. But weddings and New Year's celebrations? The champagne can really knock me down if I'm not careful.

The Latest in Hangover Research

An article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) that debunks common medical myths includes this unsettling fact about the hangover: It cannot be cured.

The crack truth squad at the BMJ goes on to say that the only way to avoid a hangover is...not to drink so much.

Share Your Cure

Have a favorite hangover cure? Add a comment below.

If you went to bed a bit too boozy only to regret the woozy sight of New Year's morning, then these greasy breakfast recipes might be just the Rx.

Is there really nothing that can ease the physical and emotional pain of the hangover? I defer to the writer/cocktail drinker Kingsley Amis for insights. Years ago, Mr. Amis wrote an essay, "The Hangover," recently reissued in the book Everyday Drinking. The essay is loaded (if you'll pardon the expression) with occasionally serious advice on managing a hangover.

Amis recommends breakfasting only on grapefruit (no sugar) and maybe some black coffee. And soon after that bit of advice, he warns against greasy foods at lunch.

These are recommendations I cannot abide. Which is why I'm ignoring them and listing my top greasy-spoon hangover "cures." These recipes will lift you up and get you heading in the right direction again. If nothing else, these salty foods will at least get you drinking water again. Enjoy them responsibly.

Hangover "Cures"

The Asparagus Cure

Notwithstanding the research coming out of Britain (see sidebar), researchers in South Korea recently uncovered evidence suggesting that compounds in asparagus "alleviate alcohol hangover and protect liver cells." Take the cure...