Artichoke - the Real Hangover Cure?

Hangovers happen. We hate them, we swear never again, and yet every once in a while, they sneak up on us. It's either a celebratory party of some kind where the drinks are flowing, a great wedding dance, or sometimes just one too many glasses of wine at home. We're supposed to drink a lot of water and maybe take a couple of aspirin …and, supposedly, we'll be fine in the morning. Not always true.

For nearly ten years, the French have had a product on their shelves, which really is a hangover 'cure'. It's a product called Security Feel Better, which was invented in Normandy by a couple of brothers, one of whom happened to be a chemist. It's billed as a digestive aid, but also readily admits that it's purpose is to counter-balance alcohol intake. It was successfully marketed in France for years and the company only ran into controversy when it began a successful attempt to market abroad.

Security Feel Better comes in a squat little bottle, which is supposed to be handy for putting in your jacket pocket, handbag or glove compartment in the car. It's a small bottle because you only get a little over 1 ounce.

The effects of Security Feel Better have been tested (I'm certain the French obliged them well!) and the product is known to work quite well. It's a natural product whose base is primarily artichoke. Yes, the plain old artichoke. Artichokes apparently have tremendous properties for renewing the liver. It's actually referred to as a hepatoprotector and a hepatic cell generator …the amazing artichoke. Since artichoke juice probably wouldn't be terrific, the PNN Company, based in Normandy, concocted a mixture of pear, artichoke, Vitamin C and fructose to make a very neutral tasting drink. The fructose will increase blood sugar, the Vitamin C replaces what you lost by drinking in the first place, and the artichoke soothes the liver. The pear seems to be just for taste. It smells of pear, tastes slightly of pear, but it isn't sweet or syrupy. And, because it's just an ounce, there's not even a lot of it that you have to drink either.

What this drink delivers is a breakdown of alcohol in the body up to six times faster than it normally dissipates. Their test results show that 45 minutes after drinking the Security Feel Better, alcohol in your body will be broken down. Normally, it takes almost five hours to eliminate two glasses of alcohol. Black coffee certainly won't work at that rate because it's really a stimulant and does nothing toward breaking down alcohol in the body.

The success story of Security Well Being was marred just a bit last year when there were complaints that the product's marketing encouraged people to drink and drive. The French government took the company to court, but it has now all been resolved with the product not only back, but back with a vengeance. Beyond France, it is now being sold in Switzerland, Korea, Germany, Russia, Belgium and Spain. It will be exported to the U.K. very soon and most likely to America within the year. Many people are already purchasing it via the internet.

Security Well Being has had one or two competitors like a similar drink called Outfox, which is made in Belgium, but apparently nothing comes even close to the artichoke concoction from France, and it now seems destined to become a shelf regular all over the world.

I never intend to get a hangover, and I've gotten pretty sensible about them, but if the shelf life of Security Well Being is two years, I think I'll keep a bottle around. The only thing I don't understand is the name. How bad is that? Well, I guess the French can't be good at everything!