While there is supposedly no "cure" to a hangover from excessive drinking, scientists from China have discovered that the popular lemon and lime carbonated soft drink, Sprite, may be the elusive remedy everyone has been searching for.

According to Chemistry World, some of the adverse effects of alcohol are thought to be caused by ethanol’s first metabolite, acetaldehyde, which ethanol metabolizes into by an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). The liver releases ADH when we drink, which breaks down ethanol into acetaldehyde so that less alcohol enters our bloodstream. This chemical is then broken down into acetate by an enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH).

Researchers at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China hypothesized that a substance which alters the activities of ADH and ALDH would "consequently alter the duration of acetaldehyde exposure." They tested 57 drinks from hot herbal tea to a variety of fizzy beverages and analyzed how they affected ADH and ALDH levels in the bodies of drinkers.

It turns out that the substance best fit for the job out of the 57 drinks studied is Sprite, which was found to speed up the ALDH process and reduce the duration of a hangover. The scientists discovered that unlike acetate, potent acetaldehyde may be the cause of symptoms like headaches and dizziness associated with hangovers.

In addition, the researchers found that an herbal drink made from hemp seeds elongated the length of the ADH process while inhibiting the ALDH process, creating longer-lasting hangovers in participants.

"These results are a reminder that herbal and other supplements can have pharmacological activities that both harm and benefit our health," Edzard Ernst, Emeritus Prodessor of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter, said to Chemistry World.