Does Menudo Really Help Cure Hangovers?
Most of us have probably experienced the aftereffects of a night spent indulging in the age-old tradition of drinking to excess. You wake up with a throbbing headache, which is paired with waves of nausea that make you feel like the world's sickest seafarer. Even though you swear off drinking forever, you find yourself back at the bars again the following weekend.
In all likelihood, your most recent hangover won't be your last, and they only get worse as you get older. As such, you need to have a plan in place for when one of these rotten mornings rolls around. Harvard Health explains that if you want to cure your hangover, you can fill your body with fluids, take a pain reliever — as long as it isn't acetaminophen based — or even have another pint, though that will only delay the inevitable.
When attempting to settle your tumultuous stomach, you're probably going to want to try and fill it with something tasty. Many people believe that a spicy soup called menudo is exactly what the doctor ordered, though its efficacy in curing hangovers is not entirely clear.
What is menudo?
Menudo is a Mexican soup with beef tripe as the star ingredient, which is more commonly known as cow stomach. The stomach stews in a spicy red chili broth and swims around with onions and hominy, a type of dried corn kernel.
Brenda Spearman, in an interview with Texas Monthly, relayed a popular saying, "Menudo for the crudo." Crudo is a Mexican slang term that means hangover. Spearman goes on to say that the Mexican people aren't the only folks who have assigned curative capabilities to cow stomach. Apparently, tripe soup is considered a hangover cure all across Europe.
Dan Garcia, part owner of Albuquerque's Garcia's Kitchen, makes about 150 gallons of this stomach soup every week, per USA Today. He explains that the common perception is that the stomach lining in menudo will soak up the alcohol in your stomach. Garcia remains unconvinced but believes that the placebo effect could make people believe in the mythical properties of menudo.
The truth of menudo's crudo-crushing capabilities
The late Anthony Bourdain, in an interview with TMZ, said that eating spicy Sichuan food is an important part of any hangover remedying ritual. It stands to reason that slurping down spicy menudo could be similarly effective. However, dietician Lisa Dorfman explains that sticking to bland food is actually a better way to deal with a hangover, per Men's Health.
However, there are certain facets of menudo that could absolutely aid in lessening your hangover symptoms. According to Drinkaware, a key contributor to your hangover is the dehydrative properties of alcohol. As such, eating soups like menudo, with broths that are primarily water, can be a great way to replenish your body's liquids (via Healthline).
Talking with USA Today, restaurateur Arnaldo Richards tells us that menudo is often served with a generous helping of corn tortillas. SFGate explains that corn is an excellent source of carbohydrates, and eating carbohydrates may replenish the blood sugar you lost from a night of heavy drinking, therefore aiding with a hangover's headache and mental fog, per Harvard Health.