South Korean hangover cure embraced in US

Worth a shot.

If you're feeling a bit worse for wear this weekend thanks to a big night out - and let's face it, there's probably about a million of us right now - you might wish you were in South Korea.

The country has a booming industry of specialty drinks which promise to help you get on the booze without the bumping headache the next day.

The country's "hangover cure" industry generates about $168 million a year and these special-purpose drinks which underpin it are widely popular.

They are consumed before a heavy drinking session and an ingredient in them is said to break down a toxin produced in our liver when drinking and also reduce the effect of alcohol on our brain's neurotransmitters.

A former engineer for Elon Musk's electric car company, Tesla, has recently started his own venture in the US, bringing the drink to the busiest tech hub of the world.

The 26-year-old Korean-born Sisun Lee has created a hangover cure drink. His company Morning Recovery began operating earlier this month and according to Business Insider, has gone crazy in Silicon Valley.

It all started when he went on a recent trip to Korea to see friends and family and was introduced to the drinks. Naturally, he tried them and "the next day, I woke up feeling great," he said.

He eventually tried to import the drinks and become a distributor for the American market but when that didn't work out, he decided to create his own version.

The magic ingredient Dihydromyricetin (DHM) which has anti-hepatotoxic properties to help detoxify our body after alcohol poisoning.

DHM is a chemical extract found in a Japanese raisin tree and is present in certain Korean pears.

Korean pears act on the key enzymes involved in alcohol metabolism to help the body metabolise and eliminate alcohol quickly.

"Korean pears have been used as a hangover cure for centuries in Korea and China," Professor Manny Noakes from the CSIRO told news.com.au in 2015.

Certain studies by "Korean researchers showed there was some validity to the claim that consuming 220mL of pear juice prior to alcohol consumption could reduce blood alcohol levels by 20 per cent and reduced the symptoms of a hangover," she said.

In previous studies, hangover symptoms were improved in people who had a particular gene type.

"We know in some Asian countries they have a lowered ability to metabolise alcohol. So it was in those gene types where alcohol metabolism was the slowest that the impact was more pronounced," Professor Noakes said.

So while hangover clinics have begun to pop up in Australia, Silicon Valley appears to be developing a thirst for Korea's unique hangover cure drinks.

Let's hope the industry takes off in Australia.