Hangover cure claims go viral as celebrations begin, we put them to an expert

The Christmas party season is in full swing and for many these celebrations include more than a few glasses of bubbly.

Hangovers resemble jet lag: foggy mind, headaches, inability to concentrate, sensitivity to light. The condition has a powerful impact on our mental capacity.

Studies have found that drivers suffering from hangovers show the same symptoms as drunk drivers.

And viral TikTok hangover cures are now claiming to be just the tonic to clear your sore head.

Los Angeles based TikToker Dr Ari calls her hangover cure the "oral banana bag". It's similar to an IV fluid used in hospitals for patients going through alcohol withdrawal by preventing dehydration and helping replenish electrolytes and vitamins.

The ingredients are vitamin B complex, magnesium, folic acid supplement and electrolyte drink. Social media users have praised the fix for those awful morning after symptoms.

Monash University department of diabetes Professor Merlin Thomas told ACM almost all of the hangover cures that are on the market contained a combination of vitamins, minerals and electrolytes but cautioned they should be taken in accordance with safety guidelines.

"In many cases people well and truly overdose on the recommended daily intake of these substances and there's no sense in any of these TikTok videos that safety has been assessed," Professor Thomas said.

"So it's really important to say that when you take vitamins there's a reason for there being a recommended daily intake because it's based on safety and avoiding harm."

Professor Thomas said the best cure for a hangover was a restorative sleep.

"The one hangover cure is to go back to bed and sleep it off," he said.

"The only two other things that seem to do some difference is dark glasses and black coffee. Coffee has a way of waking up a brain so it can palliate the symptoms of a hangover and dark glasses can help against the bright light."

Other viral TikTok hangover cures claim remedies such as dunking your face in a bowl of ice, and combining sparkling water, coconut water, lime, and black salt to help ease your hangover symptoms.

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As for the hair of the dog, a hangover remedy that involves drinking more alcohol to reduce hangover symptoms, Professor Thomas said it's a common myth that a restorative beer in the morning will alleviate a hangover.

"None of it is a cure and none of it is a preventer. The only thing that prevents a hangover is not drinking to excess."