Fatigue, nausea, thirst - these are all signs of an ongoing hangover after a night out of drinking, and naturally nobody likes the feeling. For this reason, over the years, many have come up with so-called sure fire ways of curing a hangover. However, it turns out, there is no "cure" for a hangover.
According to researchers from the Netherlands and Canada, the only way to avoid a hangover is to simply, drink less. The scientists found out that neither water, nor food, nor drinking more, can cure a hangover after a big night out.
The researchers came up with their conclusion that drinking less is the only hangover "cure" after monitoring the drinking habits of more than 1,600 Dutch and Canadian students, according to Herald Life.
The research, presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology in Amsterdam, reportedly calculated the estimated blood alcohol concentration of those who had hangovers and those who didn't.
Results reveal that 79% of the students who didn't have hangovers were found to have .10 percent estimated blood alcohol, which is equal to about two large glasses of wine, reported The Times.
"In general, we found a pretty straight relationship; the more you drink, the more likely you are to get a hangover," according to the study's lead author, Dr Joris Verster from the Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
"The majority of those who in fact reported never having a hangover tended to drink less, perhaps less than they themselves thought would lead to a hangover," he added.
The Canadian and Dutch researchers also took into consideration whether drinking water or eating right after drinking alcohol reduced a hangover. The students were questioned whether they had food or water following their drinking sessions, after which they were asked to rate their hangovers from "absent" to "extreme".
According to the results, there was virtually no difference between those who ate and those who drank water.
Of the 826 Dutch students in the study, 54% said they ate food following the alcohol binge, some of which said they ate heavy breakfasts. More than two-thirds of the students said they drank water while drinking alcohol, while more than half said they drank water before bed, according to the BBC.
While the three groups showed slight improvement as compared to those who didn't do anything after a drinking binge, there was reportedly no real difference in their hangovers' severity.
"Those who took food or water showed a slight statistical improvement in how they felt over those who didn't, but this didn't really translate into a meaningful difference," Verster said. "From what we know from the surveys so far, the only practical way to avoid a hangover is to drink less alcohol."
According to Verster, part of the problem of finding an actual "cure" was the fact that scientists are still unaware of the exact cause of a hangover.
"Research has concluded that it's not simply dehydration - we know the immune system is involved, but before we know what causes it, it's very unlikely we'll find an effective cure," he said.
He added that the researchers' next step is to carry out more controlled studies on hangovers.
