Science Journal

Do Watercress Cures Hangover?

In the middle of my conversation with one of my teammates in basketball told me that they are going to sell the juice she gave to me. I discouraged her not to because their juice appears disgusting. It looks like the stagnant water in a canal or a drunkard's vomit. It looks disgusting because of its green color. Green does not appear refreshing in juice. I suggested to her that they will better enhance the appearance of their juice because 'appearance matters' in selling a delicious-looking product. She retorted that its appearance does not matter but rather the price. The cheaper the price, the more attractive to the customers despite its shitty appearance. She also added that their juice contains watercress, which explains the green color and that plant can cure a hangover. My left eyebrow suddenly raised and questioned her conjecture and asked for a scientific explanation on how watercress helps in curing the hangover. She shrugged and told me her friend researched about it and it is genuine. But her answer did not satiate me so I told her I will try to debunk her opinion.

So, I opened a lot of sites and read a lot about the physiological process of getting hangovers and the healthy benefits of the watercress.

First, there are several factors that cause a hangover. A painful headache is the result of dehydration. Too much alcohol intake would lead the person to pee more. The pituitary gland inhibits the production of vasopressin, an anti-diuretic hormone which constantly regulates and balances the amount of water in your blood and tells the kidney how much water is needed for conservation. Without vasopressin, you will frequently visit the comfort room and allow essential nutrients such as sodium chloride, glucose, potassium, and water to be excreted. They just pass through without being absorbed by the body, thereby dehydrating the brain which leads to a throbbing headache. Another cause that makes the drunkard experience headache and nausea is that the toxic compound, Acetaldehyde is being circulated around the body. The hard-working liver, which one of its function is detoxifying chemicals before passing it to the rest of the body, breaks down the ethanol, the compound found in alcohol. Ethanol is converted into acetaldehyde. Then, an enzyme called acetaldehyde dehydrogenase plus the master detoxifier, glutathione turns the toxic acetaldehyde into an acetate, which is easily converted into a safe compound, carbon dioxide, and water. Too much alcohol being processed diminishes the production of glutathione thus failing to convert some acetaldehyde into acetate and allow that toxic chemical to release to the bloodstream. This unusual process is not good because acetaldehyde is ten times more toxic than ethanol. So, if not enough glutathione to detoxify that chemical, it would affect the brain functionality leading to a headache, nausea, and impulsivity. Not only that, acetaldehyde can create "free radicals", which react with other molecules and cause oxidative damage to proteins and DNA inducing cancer development.

So, if the anti-oxidant glutathione has a big role in converting acetaldehyde into a non-toxic chemical then the person experiencing the symptoms of hangover must increase their master detoxifier. And what I have researched, to gain glutathione is to eat sulfur-rich foods such as garlic, onions, and cruciferous vegetables. Exercise also boosts glutathione level but I don't think we would be in a mood to do some aerobic exercise after the crazy party night.

And since watercress is a Brassicaceae family of vegetables and most vegetables contain anti-oxidant, it stimulates the cleansing enzymes in the liver thus detoxifying the remnant compounds into essential chemicals needed by the body.

But I do not think it is necessary to buy fruit juice or any juice containing pulverized vegetables because there is a cheaper thing to cure hangover which is drinking water. Water replenishes the lost fluid and rehydrates the brain. Also, eating an egg which is rich in cysteine, an amino acid that the body utilized to produce glutathione can also help increase the production of the master detoxifier. Or simply eat fruits or vegetables that are rich in anti-oxidant or vitamin C to keep glutathione level stable. However, this is not a silver bullet for the hangover because it would not miraculously heal the painful throbbing in the head or make you feel better instantly. It would take time to recover from that horrible feeling and it depends on the amount of alcohol we put into our body. And drinking perhaps 2 cases of beer would totally make us feel groggy and unproductive all day after the party night.