Recipe of the Week: Hangover Helper
by Kelly Rossiter, Toronto on 12.30.05
For all you people planning to overindulge on New Year’s Eve get yourself to a Chinese herbalist and stock up on the ingredients for these curative teas and tonics. It’s a healthy alternative to greasy bacon and eggs. These are courtesy of Nina Simonds’s A Spoonful of Ginger. Simonds writes “classic Chinese cuisine evolved as an offshoot of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which,…is why virtually all foods cooked the Chinese way contains at least one of several medicinally active aromatics and seasonings, such as ginger and garlic”.
For Hangovers….
20 grams Hovenia dulcis (zhi ju)
10 grams Pueraria/kudzu root (ge gen)
10 grams Peuraria flowers (ge hua)
Place the herbs in a glass or ceramic heatproof vessel with 4 cups of spring water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until the liquid is reduced to 2 cups. Strain the broth and discard the herbs. Divide into 2 equal doses, and drink the first dose immediately on an empty stomach. Take a second dose about 2 hours later.
Lotus Root Cooler
According to Simonds this formula is good for detoxifying the liver.
1 large fresh lotus root
Raw sugar (such as Demerara) or barley malt (not honey, which would counteract the effects of the root) according to taste
4 cups spring water
Cut the lotus root into 1 inch lengths. Put lotus root sections and sweetener in a saucepan and add boiling water to cover. Cover with a lid and let steep for minutes. Strain and drink throughout the day.
Ginseng Licorice Tea
Simonds says “This is an overall blood and energy tonic that also helps to detoxify the whole system” A great start to your New Year resolution of healthy eating and weight control.
1 handful small tendril rootlets of white ginseng roots (ren shen)
10 long thing slices of licorice root (glycyrrhiza uralensis of G glabra( (gan cao)
Put the ginseng and licorice together in a thermos or a large teapot and add 4 cups of boiling water. Steep for 20 minutes, then pour off the liquid into a separate container. Add 4 more cups boiling water to the ginseng and licorice and steep 20 minutes more. You may repeat this process with the same roots up to 5 times. Strain the tea and drink it throughout the day.
So here’s to a headache free New Year’s Day and a healthy 2006!
::A Spoonful of Ginger at Amazon
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No Evidence That Hangover Cures Work:
http://tinyurl.com/c9tb6
Hi. I'm in my third year of four, persuing my Master's in Chinese Medicine. Last semester we took a class on patents, those prepackaged bottles that contain pills of classic chinese medicinal formulas. There is one called Bao He Wan or Preserve Harmony Pills. It is typically used for symptomatic relief of food stagnation (indigestion), especially when due to overindulgence in meats and greasy foods. Another one of its uses, however, is in the prevention of hangover. Just double the dose and take it the night of the festivities before you go to bed! I've already stocked up for New Years - I'll be handing out doses to all my friends that evening. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
A much easier recipe (with much more readily-available ingredients) is equal parts burdock and dandelion root, with licorice root to sweeten it.
If you don't know how to make a decoction, just take a somewhat heaping teaspoon of each root, put them in a non-aluminum saucepan, add about a quart of water, and put on the saucepan cover. Bring to boiling, then turn down heat to simmer for at least 20 minutes. Then just pour through a basic strainer and squeeze with a large cooking spoon etc.
As for the thought that this "doesn't work", I can personally attest to its efficacy. You're certainly going to help it a lot by getting outside and going for a walk, preferably working up a sweat. The whole point of those herbs, the exercise, and fresh air is to get the toxins out of your bloodstream and support the liver and kidneys.
A hangover is simply the effects of dehydration. There is no mystery to the antidote: drink water. Preferably drink water as you drink your alcohol. But if you forget, drink water afterwards. How much? A lot more than you usually would.
Certainly drinking water with healthy herbs and stuff in it is fine too.
Turil,
A hangover is the effect of more than just dehydration. Essential vitamins are lost as well, particularly vitamin C and many different B vitamins
Yes.. I agree ..8