Beat hangovers with droppings

Drinking tea made from rabbit droppings would turn most stomachs but, in the Wild West, such brews were used by cowboys to cure their hangovers.

In Outer Mongolia, heavy drinkers swear by the reviving powers of a pickled sheep's eye in tomato juice.

South Africans favour a paste of ground swallow's beak and myrrh before a night on the town to deal with alcohol-induced headaches and nausea.

The wacky remedies - a far cry from a glass of fizzy Resolve - are among ten hangover cures researchers have found around the world.

Expert Simon Ansell said: 'The El Lemon cure comes from Puerto Rico and involves rubbing a lemon under your "drinking arm".

'However, success depends on which way you rub the lemon - clockwise in the northern hemisphere, anti-clockwise in the south.'

A plate of bitter almonds and dried eels worked for merry men in the Middle Ages, while feasting on pickled herrings before a binge was also found to banish morning-after misery.

'It is uncertain where this remedy comes from but, because herring are high in unsaturated fatty acids such as evening primrose, they help prevent liver damage,' Mr Ansell said.

The unusual remedies are featured in a Discovery Channel documentary about the science behind hangovers.

Seven volunteers took part in an evening of 'controlled' drinking and the results will be shown on Friday at 9.30pm.