The Guardian

Austin, Texas

Legend has it that anti-hangover pill — called RU-21 after the American legal drinking age — was created accidentally by the Russians during the cold war. Apparently scientists were working on a tablet that would allow KGB agents to drink adversaries under the table and steal secrets without getting three sheets to the wind themselves, but it didn’t quite work. The agents still got drunk, but the pill produced an interesting side effect — no fuzzy head the next morning.

RU-21, according to its makers, blocks the toxic chemical acetaldehyde, which can damage tissues — thus preventing hangovers.

I thought I would try out RU-21 for myself. Recalling something about always using a “control” when doing experiments, I called upon Neil, a fellow Englishman. One chilly Texas evening, we braved the bars of Austin for this extremely vital scientific experiment.

The protocol was simple — I would take one RU-21 pill per alcoholic drink, as printed in the instructions. Neil would just, well, drink for England.

We started out at a run-of-the-mill pub in downtown Austin. It served British beer. Then we made our way to the next pub, where we drank a pint each of locally brewed Austin pale ale.

It was time to pick up the pace. We went into a dark watering hole on Sixth Street and necked a Long Island iced tea (vodka, gin, rum, tequila, triple sec and coke), followed by a shot of Jaegermeister herbal liqueur. Across the road we drank a gin and tonic each.

At Neil’s place, he poured us a shot each of Southern Comfort. Followed by apple vodka. Followed by banana schnapps liqueur. Followed by another gin and tonic. And a vanilla vodka. And two further shots of Jaegermeister.

I was ill for a good few hours that night. The next day I didn’t rise until about 1.30pm. For the rest of the day I nursed a throbbing head and bad stomach. Neil, meanwhile, had got up and gone to work at 9.30am feeling fine.

At around six o’clock I picked up the phone to call Spirit Sciences, the California-based company that manufactures the drug.

I was put through to Emil Chiaberi, its chief executive.

“Er, is there a limit to the number of drinks you should have when using this product?’’ I asked gingerly. “I don’t think it worked for me.”

Chiaberi sounded a little shocked. “For most people it has worked after excessive amounts of alcohol, but that’s not something we promote. It’s not for binge drinkers,” he insisted. “Your body still has a limit, and if you over-drink you’ll make yourself ill.”

The product, he says, is really aimed at reducing the risk of serious diseases associated with alcohol. “How many drinks did you have? This pill is really for moderate drinkers.”