Last week, a couple of nutrition experts told USA Today that the ultimate post–Super Bowl hangover cure is an omelette for breakfast and soup for lunch.
*checks to make sure I read that right*
Look, yes, when you get into the science of it, their reasoning seems sensible: The eggs in an omelette, they say, are filled with healthy sources of fat that help the body digest any remaining alcohol. Adding avocado to said omelette, they explain, can provide even more healthy fats, and adding vegetables can help support the liver while it attempts to process all that booze. Meanwhile, the soup provides fluids and sodium that help combat the hangover-inducing dehydration often caused by drinking 20 grief beers after your team loses the Super Bowl.
But still, if you don’t laugh at the thought of trying to cook, let alone eat, an omelette and soup when all you really want is every item on the Taco Bell menu delivered directly to your death bed, I have to question if you’ve ever even had a hangover. So to make sure this omelette-and-soup approach is actually worth my extremely hungover time, I got a third opinion from nutritionist David Friedman, author of Food Sanity: How to Eat in a World of Fads and Fiction.
“It’s good advice,” Friedman says, before expanding on the benefits of their suggestions. “This meal [the omelette and some whole-grain toast] offers a great source of protein and helps to buffer out any of the alcohol that may still be in your system. Meanwhile, soup is more gentle on the digestive tract than a hamburger and fries or a slice of pizza.”
Friedman also recommends drinking water instead of coffee when you’re hungover. “Most people reach for a cup of coffee to wake up and gain some much-needed energy, however, that’s the worst thing you can do,” he says. “Coffee, like alcohol, dehydrates the body, which can make rebounding from a hangover more difficult. Your body needs to be rehydrated, so drink plenty of water and have some fluid-rich fruits, like blueberries, apples or strawberries — the antioxidants and vitamin C they contain can also help detox and rejuvenate the liver.”
So, yeah — omelette and soup for breakfast. Or you could just shoot yourself in the face. I think we all know which is the less painful option.
Ian Lecklitner
Ian Lecklitner is a staff writer at MEL Magazine. He mostly writes about everyone's favorite things: Sex, drugs and food.
