Friday 1 January 2010

The Science of pork

Over at Jim's Beer Kit a thread has been posted about hangover cures. As an experience researcher I wasn't expecting much new but a tantalising quote perked up my interest: 

After a night at the orgy, the ancient Romans would cure their hangovers by stuffing themselves with deep-fried canaries. The Greeks favoured frying up sheep's lungs. For decades, we Britons have relied on bacon sandwiches to soak away the headache and nausea after a night out. But it was not until earlier this year that scientists at Newcastle University claimed to have pinpointed how fried meats cure hangovers by boosting the metabolism and creating amines which clear the head.

I'm not going to be switching to eating deep fried canaries after a heavy night but I was intrigued to see that hangovers have been investigated scientifically. A quick google lead me to the article the quote comes from. It mainly rambles on about economics, which is obviously far less important that hangover cures. Further googling lead me to this article which explains a little more but I haven't managed to find any peer reviewed papers on the power of pork yet. My research, both practical and theoretical, will be continuing ... 

3 comments:

  1. I heard someone on the radio referring to fried bacon as "Vitamin P". OK, it was Radio 1, and the P stands for pig, but there's no doubt that it helps with hangovers (although personally, I favour sausages)

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  2. I like it. We generally go for a two porked approach of bacon and sausage in our fry ups, and I sure adding black pudding too would only add to its restorative powers.

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  3. At last, Pork reaches its Zenith. A freind and I philophosised in the summer that the best beer festivals we attended all had one thing in common: Hot Roast Pork stalls and homemade pork Scratchings. It's true, Pork really is a beers best friend!!

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