When eating becomes a social event, drinking alcohol becomes an essential part of it, and how much you drink is no longer up to you. However, drinking too much not only makes you uncomfortable, but it can also cause problems. Below, we will introduce several foods that can quickly sober you up to avoid any issues from excessive drinking.
1. Tofu and beans
Tofu is a great contribution of Chinese cuisine to the world. According to legend, tofu was invented by Liu An, the King of Huainan during the Han Dynasty. Tofu has the function of relieving drunkenness. This is because soy products contain semi-deoxy acid, which can promote the rapid excretion of ethanol and help counteract the accumulation of alcohol, thus aiding in sobering up. So, when drinking, don't forget to have tofu or soy products as a side dish.
Take 50 grams of green beans, red beans, and black beans each, add 15 grams of licorice, and simmer until cooked. Drinking the bean soup can refresh your mind and alleviate alcohol poisoning symptoms.
Du Sijing of the Yuan Dynasty wrote in "Jisheng Bacui Fang": "If someone is drunk and has a hot sensation in the chest, use thinly sliced hot tofu. Stick it all over the body, change it when it becomes cold, and the person will wake up and recover."
2. Vinegar
Vinegar can relieve drunkenness. As early as the Yuan Dynasty, there was a record in Li Pengfei's "Sanyuan Shoushen Zanlu": "Drinking a little hot vinegar can dispel cold and is better than alcohol." The modern explanation for vinegar's ability to relieve drunkenness is that the organic acids in vinegar (mainly acetic acid) can react with ethanol to form ethyl acetate.
Based on this, vinegar can be used to relieve drunkenness. You can cook radish shreds with edible vinegar and white sugar, or boil 50 grams of edible vinegar, 25 grams of brown sugar, and a few slices of ginger in water and drink it. You can also eat a couple of vinegar-soaked preserved eggs. These methods are all effective in relieving alcohol poisoning symptoms.
When drinking vinegar to relieve drunkenness, do not overdo it. After consuming a large amount of alcohol, the severe irritation of alcohol to the gastric mucosa causes congestion in the stomach and duodenum, which promotes the production of pancreatic juice. If vinegar is consumed at this time, it will further stimulate the gastric mucosa, which may induce gastric ulcers, duodenal ulcers, or even acute pancreatitis.
3. Olives
Olives, also known as "heavenly fruits," are originally from the Mediterranean and are a type of evergreen tree. Their fruits are both edible and medicinal. Olives are also known as green fruits because they can be eaten fresh when the fruits are still green. Olives have a bitter, sour, and astringent taste. They are warm in nature, non-toxic, and have the effects of clearing heat, detoxifying, moistening the mouth, quenching thirst, appetizing, relieving irritability, and sobering up. Olives are mainly used for relieving sore throat after drinking, cough with lung heat, excessive phlegm, excessive drinking, thirst, and indigestion.
Take 20 grams of fresh olives and crush them, then stew with 30 grams of rock sugar. Drink the juice in three portions. This can treat alcohol poisoning and stagnation of food and drink. Alternatively, you can use several olives and 60-100 grams of reed roots, decoct them in water, and drink the decoction. This can clear heat, relieve irritability, and treat post-drinking stomach heat and restlessness.
4. Black plum (green plum)
"Spring in the southern country is announced by plum blossoms, and the first branch blooms with the east wind." China is the hometown of plums, which are known for their culinary, medicinal, and ornamental uses. "Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica" first pointed out the medicinal value of plum fruit, stating that "plum fruit has a sour and balanced taste, can relieve qi stagnation, eliminate heat and irritability, calm the mind, and relieve body pain." "Bencao Jingji Zhu" started to call the medicinal plum fruit as black plum. Everyone knows the story of Cao Cao, the Emperor of Wei, using the phrase "looking at plums to quench thirst." Sourness can produce saliva, which is the effect of black plum. In terms of relieving drunkenness, both black plum and green plum have similar effects.
Black plum has a sour and astringent taste and a slightly warm nature. It has the functions of invigorating the spleen, resolving dampness, and eliminating toxins. It is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine as an astringent and consolidating agent. Black plum and green plum are mainly used for relieving sore throat after drinking, thirst and injury to body fluids, diarrhea, and dysentery.
In "Zhengzhi Zhunshuo: Class Formulas," there is a recipe called black plum and papaya soup. It uses black plum, papaya, fried malt, nutmeg, and licorice, each in a proper amount, ground into coarse powder. Each time, add five slices of ginger and decoct in water. This can treat alcohol accumulation heat, excessive urination, muscle soreness, and craving for cold food and cold drinks.
A simple method is to take 30 grams of black plum, decoct it in water, and drink the decoction.
5. Galangal
Medicinal galangal comes from the dried rhizomes of the perennial herbaceous plant in the ginger family called galangal. It has been included in the medical records since the Tang Dynasty in Tao Hongjing's "Mingyi Bie Lu" and is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine as a dispelling cold agent. "Bencao Congxin" records that it "warms the stomach, dispels cold, improves digestion, and relieves pain caused by cold in the stomach." Galangal has a pungent taste, a hot nature, and the effects of dispelling cold, relieving pain, improving digestion, and relieving hangovers. It can be used to treat excessive drinking, coldness in the body, and vomiting. Galangal has a pungent taste and has a dispersing nature, which can promote sweating and increase urine output. Its hot nature can dispel cold evils and stop vomiting. It has a therapeutic effect on post-drinking stomach pain and vomiting. When using galangal to relieve drunkenness, take 10-15 grams, decoct it in water, and drink the decoction.
6. White kidney beans
"One courtyard is filled with spring rain, and a vine of kidney bean flowers covers the trellis in autumn." White kidney beans, also known as wide kidney beans or wall kidney beans, are called kidney beans because they are often grown alongside walls. Kidney beans have white and purple flowers. When the beans are immature, they can be eaten as English beans. When they are fully mature, the beans can be peeled and eaten. Medicinal white kidney beans are specifically selected from beans produced by white flowers.
White kidney beans have a sweet taste, a slightly warm nature, and the ability to invigorate the spleen, resolve dampness, and relieve diarrhea. "Bencao Tujing" records that they "are used for treating women's excessive menstruation, eliminating alcohol toxins, and relieving hangovers." For relieving drunkenness, take 10-15 grams of white kidney beans, decoct them in water, and drink the decoction.
