If you’ve had one tipple too many this holiday season, don’t worry – help is at hand.
And it comes in the form of a 400-year-old recipe.
Loughborough University has been sharing its expert’s tips on the impact of alcohol on the body and the best ways to keep healthy on its social media accounts.
And one surprising inclusion is a traditional medicine known as ‘surfeit water’.
Although the original recipe, first published in 1694 as a cure for overindulgence, contains some pretty unappetising ingredients (sperm whales’ guts, anyone?) Dr Sara Reid, an expert on modern literature and medicine, has put together a simplified version of the treatment.
Her recipe contains ingredients that are much easier to source, including brandy, ginger and cloves.
Dr Reid told the Press Association: ‘Over indulgence of food and drink was generally known as a surfeiting and was often associated with the Christmas festivities.
‘Cures to ease the symptoms of a surfeit – a heavy stomach and vomiting – included a medicated drink, known as a surfeit water.’
The university suggests adventurous individuals may like to try this treatment, but also warns that it ‘might not be as fortifying as the classic fry-up’.
