The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says there are more than 30 million hangovers per week.
I usually don't mention products outside of beer itself in this column, but one just came across my desk that reminded me it was time to talk about the potential problems with drinking beer, so I thought I'd share it.
I'm doing so especially with Super Bowl Sunday in mind–and also as a platform to remind people about the downside of drinking, even if you are just drinking beer.
The product is Hangover Joe's Recovery Shot, a concentrated mix of various vitamins and minerals that claims it will cure your day-after drinking headache and malaise. Since the Super Bowl is coming up and I know a lot of people hold parties at which they (maybe) overindulge, I thought this was a timely item for the column.
Now while my concern here is beer, some of my thoughts can be applied to any type of alcohol. But let me stick brew-related issues. But before we get to the hangover cure, let's talk about hangover causes.
As I try to do every so often in this column–at least once a year–I'm here today to make sure that the column itself never leads anyone down the road to pilsner perdition. It's an honor and a privilege to be able to write about beer, but I never want to glorify it so much that it causes someone with susceptibility to alcoholism to slip in their ways. And people who struggle from alcoholism are often more susceptible to backsliding during celebratory times such as the holidays and, of course, Super Bowl Sunday. I also don't ever want to be part of someone getting so drunk that it causes them or those around them harm. While I don't see anything wrong with getting a bit of a glow from drinking beer, some of the higher-alcohol brews these days can really sneak up on you. So if you're driving to a Super Bowl party, please make sure you don't overindulge or that you have a designated driver to get home.
Okay, lecture over. However, if you do have a bit too much beer while watching the game, you may find yourself waking up on Monday with a hangover. Even without such a cause for celebration as the Super Bowl, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says there are more than 30 million hangovers per week in United States alone. And while I sometimes find these statistical estimates a bit specious, the institute also say that hangovers cost companies $148 billion in absenteeism and reduce job performance.
Whether or not those statistics are true or even close to being accurate is not our concern here. Our concern is first and foremost preventing a hangover by having you attenuate your consumption of beer to a reasonable level. But if you happen to overindulge, we also want to make sure you feel better the next morning.
Enter hangover Joe's recovery shot. According to the press release for the product it is a combination of "key amido acids, vitamins, antioxidants, and herbs that have been specifically engineered for maximum hangover relief." The hook here, of course, is this product is supposedly the remedy used in the hit movie, "The Hangover." If you have seen the movie, you'll know what I mean when I say that I hope none of my readers ever has to get that drunk. But even if you just have the smallest of headaches, any sort of possible replenishment is welcome. So while this is not an endorsement of the product at all, it's just a way to remind you that overindulging has consequences. The hangover is the least of these.
So have fun, enjoy the game, but please exercise moderation and be safe.
Go 49ers!