Prickly pear extract can prevent the worst of hangovers, according to a research study reported in the June 2004 issue of "Archives of Internal Medicine." Dr. Jeffrey Weise and colleagues at Tulane University in New Orleans conducted the research. They found that prickly pear extract significantly reduces the symptoms of alcohol-induced hangovers.

In the study, 64 healthy adults were randomly selected to receive either two capsules of prickly pear fruit extract or a placebo. They were then given a junk food meal and began drinking five hours later. Over four hours of drinking, the subjects consumed up to 1.75g of alcohol per kilogram of body weight, a quantity that has produced hangovers in previous studies.

Blood and urine samples were taken from the study participants after the four hours of drinking, and they were asked to rate hangover severity based on nine symptoms and overall well-being based on a scale from zero to six.

The researchers found that symptoms of nausea, dry mouth, and loss of appetite were significantly reduced in those participants who had taken the prickly pear extract and the risk of a severe hangover was reduced by half.

The pharmacist also reported that the level of C-reactive protein, a marker for liver damage that is thought to be involved in alcohol hangovers, were 40% higher in those subjects who took placebo than those who took the prickly pear extract.

Better Humans reports that hangovers are multi-causal. Alcohol is a diuretic and therefore has a dehydrating effect, which causes headaches, dry mouth and lethargy. Alcohol is also a metabolic poison, and its impact on the stomach lining probably accounts for the nausea that often accompanies hangovers.

Hangover symptoms may also be related to inflammation caused by impurities in alcoholic beverages and by-products of alcohol metabolism. Prickly pear cactus extract is thought to fight inflammation by inhibiting production of inflammatory mediators.

Abstinence is the best hangover prevention, but the problem is so pervasive, three of four drinkers have at least one hangover a year, that reducing harm from it would be worthwhile. According to Dr. Weiss, hangovers cost the United States billions of dollars in lost productivity. He cited a study by Norman Kreitman who found that the people hung-over most frequently are the light to moderate drinkers, and those people tend to be gainfully employed.