Don't moan about the leftovers! Turkey curry could cure Xmas hangover

That traditional Boxing Day turkey curry might do more than just use up the leftovers – it could also turn out to be something of a Christmas miracle.

Scientists have found that turmeric – a key ingredient of curry - contains an active compound called curcumin which has proved to be a surefire way of helping your hangover.

In a new study, researchers looked at the effects of curcumin, which gives curries their distinctive golden-yellow colour, on hangovers, finding it helped relieve them in nearly ninety per cent of cases.

'It significantly alleviated muscle pain and flushing of the body or face, and significantly reduced headache and heartburn.'

'The sum of hangover symptoms was significantly lower than for the placebo group,' said one of the researchers whose study appears in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.

They reported that despite the widespread prevalence of hangovers, surprisingly little is known about the exact mechanisms which cause them.

Scientists have previously wondered why the most common hangover symptoms -fatigue, headache, sensitivity to light and sound, muscle pain, thirst, dizziness, low mood, anxiety, and irritability – persist even after alcohol is gone from the system.

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Around 30 men and women took concentrated formulations of curcumin, or an inactive placebo, before drinking a 500 ml 16.5% proof alcoholic drink and being monitored regularly over a 15 hour period.

Incredibly, results showed that nearly nine in ten (87.3 per cent) of those taking curcumin had no hangover symptoms at all.

Meanwhile blood alcohol levels were nearly a fifth lower (17.6 per cent) in the curcumin group and levels of acetaldehyde were over a third (31.4 per cent) lower. There was also less muscle pain and flushing of the face, and reduced headache and heartburn in those taking the curcumin.

Researchers concluded that curcumin is such a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory that it speeds up the processing of alcohol by the liver resulting in the faster elimination of acetaldehyde from the bloodstream, reducing its toxic effects.