TeaChat

I've heard it said that puerh is able to somehow neutralize alcohol in one's body after drinking too much and is often given to people that are drunk to make them sober up quicker than they would otherwise on their own. Does anyone know if there is actually true or is it only a myth?

I'm not sure about this--there's nothing that can really "sober" up a person that I know of, and I'm sure that it's along the lines of "give him coffee," so it sounds slightly suspicious to me. I mean I know that tea can speed up the metabolism, and pu erh is particularly good for that, so that might help it a bit. (I'm willing to be contradicted on this, by the way, so if someone has better information.) Generally the foods people say to eat while you're drinking are greasy ones, and as pu erh is different than that, it seems to fly in the face of what I'm usually told.

I have, however, read in several places that Pu Erh is very good for helping hangovers. It can't replace common sense, not mixing, knowing your limits, and drinking water in between as a preventative; or yogurt and spicy curries afterwards; but if anyone's so inclined as to get a hangover at some point, it might help. Remember to drink responsibly and always have a designated driver; brewing tea while under the influence is also a disaster waiting to happen, so be careful.

Good point Richard. I'm also a bit skeptical about the whole thing as every account that I heard was at least second hand of what someone heard from someone else. Pretty much most of them go along the lines of out clubbing somewhere in Asia (usually China or Hong Kong) drink a bit too much go somewhere start drinking puerh for an hour and then they are no longer drunk and don't end up with handovers the next day. And regardless how dependable is someones story about what happened when they were drunk at the time.

I'm guilty of never drinking pu erh. And I don' drink alcohol either (very much underage) but the topic stirred the chemist in me.

Unfortunately I got nowhere in research except to find one of the most vile looking conncoctions around, chewable pu erh tablets
http://www.tdresearch.com/puerh.htm

I suppose it's a dieuretic (or 'owever you spell it), so the alcohol would be passed through the body faster. but I doubt it has any benefits beyond that.

Unfortunatly, there is no cure to sober up or lessen the affects of alcohol in the system. Alcohol is considered a toxic in the system and needs be metabolized through the liver. However, caffine does open the capillaries and blood vessles and can aid in a terrible hangover. (As a consequence of drinking to excess, the vessles are restricted) Their are many different remedies for hangover and most cultures have a "cure" Trust me, I have searched!

Hop_goblin has it right.

Nothing gets rid of intoxication except time; enough time for the liver to process all of the alcohol into sugar. Anything that increases your heart rate is going to very marginally affect how quick a person sobers up, because of course the greater amount of blood circulation will get more of the alcohol to the liver, but the difference isn't great enough to be worth considering.

It may aid in a hangover, though. A little hair of the dog, lots of water, some stomach-calming liquids, nutritious food, and caffeine to help get rid of the headache will make things a lot better most likely. But I can't speak from first hand experience. Even after nights of serious drinking, I have never had a hangover short of being drunk for longer than I'm comfortable with.