How Pears Can Help Your Hangover

[Read Time: 2-3 minutes]

Pity the poor pear: The Forrest Gump of the fruit basket.
A lost child in the produce section.
An afterthought in the bowl if there's an apple or orange left.
Never permitted in Club Smoothie -- pears really get no respect.

Rodney Dangerfield

But new research shows this underdog is actually kicking ass. Besides being loaded with vitamin C, pears provide a whopping 24% of your daily fiber (6 grams) -- compare that to apples (17%) and bananas (12%), and the switch over to pears should make things run a lot more smoothly for you.

My mom always told me fiber is good and all, but what about the hangover cure part?

There is no cure for a hangover, but there is a natural remedy that can help. Believe it or not, pears can actually reduce your hangover symptoms by up to 21%, according to research by Horticulture Innovation Australia. Eating one Korean (Asian) pear before (not after) you go out partying has shown to metabolize your booze quicker. Korean pears are also known as “apple pears” because of their apple-like texture.

The Korean Pear

So does the high amount of pear fiber absorb my Bud lights like a sponge or something?

Not exactly. The Korean pear acts on the two key enzymes, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), to speed up alcohol metabolism and help inhibit alcohol absorption. The toxic metabolite acetaldehyde, responsible for those miserable hangover symptoms, was actually reduced in blood levels after 7 oz of pear juice was consumed.

Looks like I'll be hitting up Costco later for some pears.

A big box of pears

Indeed you should, but let us not forget about the other health benefits of pears besides the hangover remedy part. Recent studies have shown pears lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke risk, and even protecting against lung cancer.

Gramps could definitely use some pears in his diet then.

As should anyone. Pears should be included in everyone's diet. Also, don't peel them. When you peel off the skin, you take out 25% of the vitamin C and a powerful fruit antioxidant called phenolic acid. In fact, all the chemical components found in the peel were approximately 6 to 20 times higher than those in the flesh of the pear alone. 

So suck it up, wash off the outside, and eat the whole pear with the skin and all before you begin your festivities this weekend.