World-first ‘hangover cure pill’ launched by Swedish brand Myrkl

In a world-first, Myrkl have brought out a new pill which is said to cure a hangover.

The Swedish company have created a pill which claims to break down up to 70% of alcohol in your system after just one hour. Alcohol consumption in large quantities can result in feeling ‘hungover’, but this new pill has the potential to reduce the effects of alcohol and improve overall health. It’s beneficial to eat before drinking alcohol, and it’s always a good idea to stay hydrated by drinking water, but after 30 years of research and development, Myrkl believe that they’ve come up with the “first product in history to break down alcohol effectively.”

This new pill helps to break down the alcohol into carbon dioxide and water; it contains vitamin B12, Bacillus Coagulans and Subtilis and amino acid L-Cystein. Where it stands, a box of 30 of these pills will set you back £30. To ensure that the pill is effective, the instructions state that you should take one pill 12 hours before drinking, and another pill one hour before; the pill will continue to break down alcohol for up to 12 hours.

Whilst this pill is an amazing development and has potential upside, experts are sceptical about its effectiveness. In a recent interview with i News, Joris Verster, the principal investigator at the Division of Pharmacology at Utrecht University and founder of the Alcohol Hangover Research Group is not yet convinced:

“There is no scientific evidence that this product is effective against hangovers. It has never been investigated in this context; it concerns the acute effects observed directly after consuming just one glass of vodka. The pill is essentially a dietary supplement and should not be classed as a medicine of any kind”

However, Paul Skett, a forensic pharmacologist specialising in the metabolism of alcohol, is somewhat more optimistic about the potential benefits of this new hangover cure:

“The research paper that Myrkl has published actually says you need to take the pill for at least a week before drinking. It also explains that it reduces the absorption of alcohol by using a probiotic, which looks to be normal bacteria…of course, this could reduce the severity of a hangover and I suppose it could work in that sense..to actually clear alcohol from the body, you need a coenzyme in the liver called NAD, and you need fructose to produce that…the advice I give to my students is, don’t save up your 14 units until Friday night, have a few drinks throughout the week to prepare the liver for excess.”

What do you think about this new hangover cure pill? Please be sure to let us know your thoughts!

Image Credit: Mark Fletcher-Brown on Unsplash