Does the hangover pill work?

It's 8.30 on Sunday morning, and the fact of the matter is that I'm not feeling too bad. This is a source of some considerable surprise, because the night before I attended a birthday celebration.

This took the form of a couple of games of pool in the pub, accompanied by three pints of lager, followed by supper, accompanied by a half-bottle of rather fine red wine. In between, I managed to squeeze in a pair of vodka-and-tonics in the nature of an aperitif, and just before summoning a minicab, I succumbed to something strong in a small glass flavoured with mandarin oranges, which is one of the all-time no-nos.

The lack of headache or any other form of hangover pain is therefore remarkable, as is the absence of the usual lassitude that inevitably accompanies the morning after the night before. The only possible conclusion is that the pills must have worked.

I should explain that during my excesses of the night before, I was helping myself from a box of RU21 tablets. These little pills - which have not yet been released but are due in the shops later this month - are advertised as helping to regulate the alcoholic metabolism, during which process a highly toxic compound called acetaldehyde is produced by the body.

The entirely natural ingredients of RU21, according to the manufacturer, slow down the production of acetaldehyde and speed up its decomposition into harmless elements. Acetaldehyde is, apparently, directly linked to the damage which drinking causes to organs, cells and skin.

One pill per two alcoholic drinks is the suggested dose, with a recommended limit of two pills per session, which means they will not have much appeal for the binge drinker who would regard four alcoholic beverages as a mere warm-up to the main event. It is further claimed that RU21 - the name derives from the American legal age limit for drinking - reduces alcohol cravings and sexual dysfunction. At £4.99 for a pack of 20 pills, this sounds like a bargain.

To be honest, I didn't pay too much attention to the pills at the time. The couple I took slipped down the throat easily enough and were instantly forgotten. I really didn't think they would make the slightest difference. Apparently, the formula was devised at the Russian Academy of Sciences and was launched commercially last year by a company based in California. I am afraid that this information caused a fierce outbreak of scepticism.

Yet they must have had some effect, because five hours after retiring to bed, I was preparing to take my two dogs for a walk, while running through some recipes for the lunch I had promised to cook my mother on the occasion of Mothering Sunday. In the normal course of events, the dogs would have been walking themselves round the back garden and I would not have been able to look a recipe in the face, much less entertain the thought of actually cooking.

I was further surprised that the urge for a restorative Bloody Mary did not manifest itself in the usual urgent manner. It was 1.30pm when the first chunk of ice hit the bottom of the glass, by which time the roast chicken was taking on a golden glow, the root vegetables were on the verge of some light caramelisation, the mashed potatoes were coming along fine in a buttery and peppery kind of way, and even the cabbage was contriving to look interesting. The lunch was, in short, a success, which meant in turn that the pills had been something of a triumph. By 5pm, I was dozing blissfully in front of the football, all responsibilities at an end.

Naturally, I wondered if there was some sort of catch with this miraculous panacea. While it certainly did not produce any cravings for more drink, whether physical or mental, I was aware of the fact that I had never taken these pills before, and expected nothing from them. If I had known they were likely to be effective, would I have been tempted to push the boat out even further? In short, is RU21 an excuse to merrily binge myself into pillprotected oblivion?

This was unlikely, I decided. The evening had passed with its full complement of drinks, and the idea of tipping yet another one down just because the pills would let me off lightly had not appealed. I certainly felt they might come in useful in the conducting of urgent business the day after.

I should warn you here, however, that two friends who also took a pill each reported no positive effects from them. In fact, one of the guests spent the day with a head that felt as if it had been kicked by a horse.

I guess, when it comes right down to it, it's all about metabolism.