In search of a hangover cure

ALIBI IS boldly branded the world¹s first 'pre-tox' drink. It is designed, according to its producers, to "prepare the body and process toxins, including those which may typically occur from drinking alcohol".

It contains a host of weird and wonderful ingredients, including milk thistle, artichoke and Gingko. The gist of this new soft drink is that if you sell it to your customers before selling them a profitable couple of pints, they should avoid the hangover.

At this time of year, punters may well be on de-toxing regimes, but Alibi claims to go even further by dealing with these toxins before they¹ve even started to take effect.

So, does it really work? And is it an example of irresponsible marketing?

In short, it was time to put the product to the test ­ along with a few more traditional ways of healthily preparing for a night¹s drinking.

Is it responsible?​

Or DOES Oliver Bolton, the young entrepreneur behind Alibi, risk persuading consumers that it is a panacea for all, a licence to get drunk?

Oliver has got it stocked by a number of nightclubs, and claims he is close to securing a distribution deal with Waverley TBS and a listing in Geronimo Inns.

He says: "Some of the ingredients in the drink have been known to help a hangover, although we wouldn¹t condone relying on Alibi in this way. The way we market Alibi encourages people to think about what they¹re drinking."

David Poley, chief executive of drinks watchdog the Portman Group, says: "Companies can advertise these sorts of products, providing they don't imply it means you can drink with impunity."

Ask the medical experts​

Firstly, ahead of this alcoholic odyssey, I got myself a doctor¹s check-up to get her opinion about this vitamin-packed soft drink and the viability of de-toxing.

"Neither pre-toxing nor detoxing have any evidence to support them," says Dr Catti Moss, of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

"Most vitamins are pretty safe in overdose. However, vitamin C can cause kidney stones in an overdose, and Vitamin B6 can cause nerve damage in an overdose.

"Unfortunately, this drink contains B6 at 400 per cent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA). I don't know how much this is, as different countries have different RDAs, but it means that anyone drinking this who is also taking B6 from other sources could be at risk," she warned.

"This drink doesn¹t tell you what the real dose of chemicals in it is. I find that very dubious and potentially dangerous." Dr Moss suggested some good old-fashioned methods as alternatives. "To prepare yourself for drinking, there is only one safe way," she says. "Eat beforehand, continue to eat through the evening, drink at least as many non-alcoholic drinks as alcoholic ones, drink slowly and don¹t go over your safe total." So, I decided to try all these methods alongside Alibi in an effort to stave off the dreaded hangover.

Of course, I wan¹t drinking irresponsibly ­ I settled on four pints over the course of an evening as a scientific measure for this experiment.

With all this advice in place, it was time to put to the test Alibi¹s claim to help "prepare the body and process toxins, including those which may typically occur from drinking alcohol". Here are the results:

Eat something with your ale

I lined my stomach, drinking the four pints during a three-course dinner.

As Dr Catti Moss says, eating will only work in so far as "delaying the absorption of alcohol, it doesn¹t reduce the amount absorbed".

What the eating method does do, of course though, is slow down the rate of drinking because your customer is having to intersperse swallowing the beer with mouthfuls of food.

The food also makes you full, so you probably have less of an appetite for beer in the first place. Both of these surely have the effect of moderating excessive drinking, slowing the pace of consumption and making you savour the beer. At least it did in my case.

I felt clear-headed when I left the pub, fine when I went to bed that night, and only slightly the worse for wear in the morning.

Eating seemed to be an effective hangover preventative. As more and more pubs turn to food, it is one method you can recommend to your customers to see off a hangover.

Hangover rating (10 being the worst): 4/10​

Match soft beverages and alcohol drink for drink

"Drink at least as many non-alcoholic drinks as alcoholic ones," Dr Moss suggested, so that¹s exactly what I did here, alternating four pints of beer with the same measures of water.

I spent the evening as bloated with liquid as a water bed, and would certainly have been put off drinking more, had I wished to. This is one method to keep you within your safe limits of alcohol consumption.

In the morning, the dry throat was there, and so was a slight headache. I wasn¹t quite nauseous, but it was enough to make me think twice about getting out of bed.

This bid to reduce the hangover seemed like a lot of effort for such little payback.

Hangover rating (10 being the worst): 5/10​

Take the Alibi pre-tox drink

Oliver Bolton, the man behind Alibi, recommended that I drank two cans of the pre-tox drink before heading out to the pub. Would it work?

First of all, it was a struggle to get through the two cans. Oliver describes its taste as "Californian grapefruits, Tuscan limes and sparkling spring water". It¹s certainly has an unusual taste, probably similar to Red Bull in that drinkers will either love it or loathe it. While the first few swigs were refreshing, it left a disconcertingly chemical aftertaste. By the second can, 'medicinal' would be the best description for Alibi.

In the pub, the taste of the first third of a pint of beer was nullified washing away this mouthwash-style tang.

That said, this medicine seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. As with the other trials, I had the four pints over the course of an evening, but awoke to find the hangover having its way only with its signature dry throat.

No headache here, and I had drunk the same amount of beer, of comparable ABV, over the same time period.

I tried the test again on a second night ­ and the morning after saw the same consequences. In my case Alibi served its purpose.

Hangover rating (10 being the worst): 4/10​