People have been trying everything under the sun to avoid a hangover. Some people swear by electrolyte powders. Others eat a bacon sandwich at 2 a.m. and hope for the best. In Korea, they drink pear juice.
Specifically, nashi pear juice. It’s made from round, crisp Asian pears that taste like a cross between a melon and an apple. For years, the drink has been marketed as a hangover shield, with claims that it helps your body metabolize alcohol faster. Now, multiple brands have even hit the market promising a much more pleasant morning.
The instructions are simple: drink at least 220ml of it about twenty minutes before your first drink. Then wake up refreshed. In theory.
Experts Say This Is the Best Way to Cure a Hangover
According to a 2013 study published in Food & Function, there may be something to it. Researchers gave Korean pear juice to half the participants, then served everyone around 540ml of alcohol. The pear juice group reported 16 to 21 percent fewer hangover symptoms. Light sensitivity, memory loss, and brain fog were all noticeably lower. The catch, however, was that it varied a lot depending on each person’s metabolism.
Another study from Australia found that the pears contain an enzyme called dihydromyricetin, which speeds up how the body breaks down alcohol. The researchers also pointed out that a key toxin responsible for nausea and next-day regret was significantly reduced in those who drank the juice.
Still, the science has limits. The most effective results came from drinking pear juice before alcohol, not after. And no matter how many antioxidants a fruit contains, alcohol is still toxic.
“There is no magic bullet,” the researchers clarified. The juice helps, but it doesn’t erase the effects of overdrinking.
In other words, it might take the edge off, but it won’t un-send your texts or stop you from sweating gin at your 9 a.m. meeting.
That said, it’s a decent addition to the pregame lineup. If you’re already drinking water and pacing yourself, pear juice could be one more buffer between you and a next-day hangover spiral.
Just don’t expect miracles in a can, especially if you ignore the part where you’re supposed to drink it before the tequila shots start.
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