New research shows that drinking pear juice before you start drinking can prevent hangovers and lower blood alcohol levels.
The hangover prevention method - drinking 200ml of pear juice before drinking, although eating the pear itself can also help - has been found to be effective in limiting the effects of a hangover and reducing the amount of alcohol in people's blood.
Scientists measured the success of hangover treatments on a scale of 14 common symptoms. The scale found that drinking Korean pear juice "significantly reduced" the effects of a hangover, and that it was most effective at avoiding "difficulties in concentration."
The researchers made it clear that this effect only seemed to occur when pear juice was consumed before drinking alcohol, not after.
So far, researchers have only studied Korean or Asian pears, which have long been used as a traditional hangover cure. But they plan to see if the same results can be obtained with other types of pears, since their compositions have many differences.
Scientists are still not sure what the role of pears is, making them an effective way to stave off hangovers.
Factors in Korean pears appear to act on key enzymes involved in alcohol metabolism, namely alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), to accelerate alcohol metabolism and eliminate or inhibit alcohol absorption. the study said in a statement. In particular, drinking pear juice reduced blood levels of acetaldehyde, a toxic metabolite thought to be responsible for hangover symptoms.
The findings were produced by Australia's national science agency CSIRO. It is working with Horticulture Innovation Australia to study the effects of pear consumption on drinkers.
The fruit has also been found to lower cholesterol, relieve constipation and have anti-inflammatory properties.
