Country Clinic

While in many cases the conditions that ail us are brought on by factors beyond our control, such as losing the gene pool lottery or unavoidable contact with germs, other times people just have it coming. For every legendary tale of drunken collegiate escapades, there is most likely a corresponding story of a mind-throbbing morning after, told only in the dark recesses of nearly silent rooms. Not to suggest party-goers often find themselves waking up in the seedy underbelly of society–light and loud noise simply exacerbate the headache generally associated with a hangover. Of course, since a hangover is more or less your own fault, don’t expect any nurse, mother or significant other to coddle you through your pain. Fortunately, if you can stomach some food, hangovers are scientifically proven to have a delicious culinary cure.That’s right, it wasn’t just blind luck or a testament to human willpower that you suddenly felt better after your next-day trip to waffle house. Research shows that bacon, while not technically healthy in most senses of the word, can in fact provide immediate returns in terms of hangover relief. While getting pretty much anything in your belly is a necessary step down the road to recovery (necessary in order to speed up your metabolism thus get rid of the liquor quicker), bacon is a particularly potent remedy. A night of heavy drinking typically results in a loss of “neurotransmitters.” Bacon provides extremely high “amino acid” content, along with “reducing sugars” in the fatty portion (which brings taste into the equation), helping to repair and replace lost neurotransmitters.Furthermore, the smell of sizzling bacon is believed to be not only mouth-watering but naturally therapeutic. For best results, eat the bacon in standard sandwich form, perhaps a BLT for breakfast, as bacon goodness plus carbohydrates provides the optimal combination for a fast-acting cure.