Chaser Hangover
Like all the other serious drinkers out there, you're wondering whether Chaser hangover remedy actually works. The medical profession still debates whether there is a way to mitigate the effects of alcohol consumption, which makes it hard to make a definitive proclamation one way or the other. Drinkers and anti-alcohol advocates often have a lot of personal investment in drinking issues, while health care experts tends to study alcohol use in terms of prevention and treating those who drink excessively, so the opinions clash often.
We'll discuss whether the "Chaser hangover remedy" works, while going over why people get hangovers in the first place. Before I start throwing out the pros and cons of "Chaser Hangover" cures and other over-the-counter supplements, lets look at why you have a hangover.
What Causes a Hangover?
The most common reason people get hangovers is because they're dehydrated. Alcohol causes a certain amount of dehydration, and when you drink a lot of alcohol, the effect is heightened. That's why so many people tell you to drink water between drinks, or to take two aspirins and a glass of water. The idea is to rehydrate and therefore mitigate the effects of your hangover.
Remember the last time you had a hangover. Some of the symptoms probably were dry mouth and thirst. That's because excessive drinking causes you to go to the restroom - a lot. This means you're going to get rid of a lot of water over the night. A lot of that is water content in the alcohol, but some isn't.
Hangovers and Upset Stomach
Another common side effect of a hangover is nausea and upset stomach. That's because alcohol is an irritant to your stomach. Drink enough alcohol and you'll damage the lining of your stomach, causing it to thin (temporarily, on a binge).
At the same time, you start to produce too many stomach acids, in order to produce enzymes to break down the alcohol. These acids start to churn, causing the queasiness you're so familiar with.
More Hangover Symptoms
Other symptoms you'll deal with include dizziness, soreness and puffy skin, generally from the dehydration. Because you've lost potassium and magnesium, your blood sugar might be low and your blood pressure might be high. This causes lethargy and weakness, while you might be agitated. Either of these can cause psychological conditions.
Hangovers and Psychological Effects
In fact, bad hangovers can cause depression, malaise, anxiety or extreme agitation. Part of this is because alcohol is a depressant, while metabolizing alcohol causes your liver to produce enzymes with side effects that lowers your blood sugar. Low blood sugar can lead to depression.
As you can see, hangovers produce a wide range of effects on the human body and psyche, so let's look at whether Chaser Hangover helps to cure these.
Chaser Hangover Prevention - Does It Work?
Before we start, let's mention that there is no consensus in the medical community about what is the best remedy for hangovers, or even what exactly causes hangovers. Even among the known cures for hangover symptoms, few cure every effect, since hangovers cause so much chaos in the body.
With that in mind, I can't recommend Chaser hangover prevention as a fully effective hangover remedy. There is little medical evidence that over-the-counter supplements have the desired effect they promise, and many remedies that people use after binges don't even claim to be a hangover remedy. Chaser is one that does.
Chaser Hangover Pills
Chaser hangover pills promise "no headaches, no nausea, no regrets". That sounds pretty darned good for the serious drinker. Reading the Chaser pledges, the company claims they can stop the effects of being hung over because their product uses charcoal and calcium carbonate to attract and absorb "congeners" that produce some of the most negative effects of "alcohol abuse". Chaser suggests their product is "clinical", which in this context means "good".
What Is a Congener?
Let's define a term, since nobody in their right mind outside the chemist or the brewing business knows what the heck a "congener" is. Congeners are produced during fermentation, so you'll find congeners in all alcoholic beverages. In fact, these by-products of fermentation produce most of the color, aroma and taste of alcoholic beverages. The darker the beer, the more congeners tend to be in the drink. (That's only for beer. Don't assume vodka is less toxic for hangovers than beer, for example.)
Congeners contain trace chemical like tannin, acetone and acetaldehyde, and congeners are thought to be one of the main substances that produce hangovers. Blocking the congener content of alcohol would presumably help alleviate hangovers, or entirely prevent them.
Do Chaser Hangover Cures Work?
Chaser Hangover cures don't work, in my experience. The activated calcium carbonate and charcoal doesn't appear to have any particular blocking effect on congeners in the alcohol. Taking Chaser cures might help prevent mild hangovers, but the likely method they use to do so is for a basic reason.
When you take two Chaser pills, you're told to drink a glass of water with them. If you have more than 6 drinks, you're told to take 2 more Chaser pills, once again with a glass of water. Since one of the chief reasons hangovers happen is because alcohol dehydrates you, taking these pills means you should be filling up on water along the way.
With no dehydration, there's little chance you have a hangover the next day. If you were taking these pills every 3 drinks, instead of every 6 drinks, they very well might cure hangovers. You've probably met someone who suggests you drink a water between every liquor drink, so you don't get dehydrated. While that would work, you probably don't want to be the dork slamming down water along with your liquor shots.
Chaser Hangovers
While it would be nice to have a pill that eliminates the effects of a hangover, I can't in any good conscience recommend Chaser Hangover remedies. If you want to mask your water consumption by taking Chaser pills throughout the night as "an experiment", go right ahead. But besides the rehydrating you're doing, I don't think they're going to work for you.