Reporter tests whether new hangover pill works; check out

You go out with friends and a glass of beer or a glass of wine becomes two, three. The next day comes regret: headache, nausea, dry mouth. You swear you’ll never drink again, until it happens again. What if there was a solution? No wonder a pill that promises to stop a hangover sold out less than 24 hours after its launch in the UK.

As I’ve been through this all my life, I was excited to receive my box in the mail. The pill is called Myrkl—pronounced “miracle”, a miracle in English. It works? There’s only one way to know: by experimenting.

According to the manufacturer, it is a food supplement with probiotics, vitamin B12 and the amino acid L-cysteine. Created by a Swedish company in 1990 and perfected over the years, the formula promises to metabolize up to 70% of alcohol in 60 minutes before it reaches the liver, turning it into carbon dioxide and water.

Less alcohol enters the bloodstream, and hangover effects and organ damage would be less. In England, the box with 30 pills, 15 doses, goes for 30 pounds (about R$ 180.80). It’s two pounds (R$12) a night, a third of the average price of a pint (568 ml glass of beer).

Before anyone rushes to the pub: it won’t affect anyone who drinks all night on an empty stomach.

One of the owners of Myrkl, the Swiss Frederic Fernandez, explains that the pill is not for those who want to get drunk (which would also take longer and more expensive), but for those who drink moderately, go to a barbecue or lunch at the end of week and wishes to be well the next day.

“In our surveys, we see women who would like to have one, two glasses of wine without feeling bad the next day,” he said.

I am more excited to know that I am part of the target audience. Test time. To be fair, I decide to repeat what I did the last time I had a hangover: three glasses of wine with little food and two glasses of water.

The recommendation is to take two capsules at least two hours before drinking. Fernandez tells me that the sooner the better. I take it three hours before going to the same bar, in my neighborhood, with a friend.

After the first glass comes a milder euphoria than usual. I take the second, the third. Normally, I would feel the effects of alcohol quite a bit, which I don’t.

“Must be working!” I think. I eat a little, drink water, and the waiter offers a round on the house. Accepted. Four glasses later, I’m alert, I walk home. I drink a glass of water and go to sleep.

After my usual 7:30 am, I wake up tired but not hungover. I don’t feel sick, my mouth isn’t dry. I drink coffee, I go to work out and a slight headache starts. I go out to work. In the afternoon, I take an analgesic, the pain comes and goes. The day goes on. Instead of the expected discomfort, I’m in a good mood.

The pill is marketed as “the first formula in history with promising results in breaking down alcohol efficiently.”

Efficacy is based on a randomized, double-blind study done in Germany. For a week, after a light breakfast, participants drank a “moderate” glass of vodka, followed by blood tests. Alcohol absorption was more than 70% lower in those who took the pill than in those who received a placebo.

The product is authorized by health agencies in the United States and Europe. But hepatologist Ashwin Dhanda, a professor at the University of Plymouth, points out flaws in the study of just 24 young, healthy, white people.

“The format is good, but it was not well executed. They did not choose individuals with chronic diseases or who take medication. It is very small”, he warns.

“I worry that people will see this as a ticket to drink freely or decide to drive thinking they’re below legal limits, and they won’t be.”

In fact, since launching last month, the company has adjusted expectations on the website, which now warns: “food supplements are absorbed differently by each person and depend on external factors.” The first version of the packaging had the phrase: “the pill to take before you drink that works”. She was withdrawn.

Fernandez, however, says he trusts the survey of 1,229 people in the UK, 70% of whom approved the product. “Myrkl sold out in 24 hours, we have satisfied customers. We have the humility to say that we are learning. There are things that we do not control in the customer experience.”

That is, if I had a pasta dish for dinner, would it be better the next day? Or, without eating anything, worse? There’s no way to know.

“Criticism is valid. But it is a supplement, not a drug. When a drug is launched, there are several phases of studies. We do not need, by law, clinical studies. We are transparent about that.”

“Alcohol is a public health issue in many countries. It also brings people together, so we want to help them be at their best when they drink responsibly. , he added.

The sale to Brazil starts in October. For me, Myrkl wasn’t a complete miracle, but apart from the headache, I liked having more energy than I would have if I hadn’t taken it and knowing that I’m, as far as possible, sparing my liver.

I won’t drink anymore because of that, on the contrary. Now that I can compare, I’m more aware of what alcohol does to my body. At the end of the day, there’s no magic formula: if you want to have fewer hangovers, drink less.