Myth, tested · Drinking
Do hangover and 'liver-support' pills work?
Grade: Weak or Overhyped
“Milk thistle, NAC, and turmeric protect your liver from drinking.”
Milk thistle, NAC, and turmeric/curcumin are marketed as a chemical shield for nights out. In humans, the trial evidence for protecting the liver from alcohol this way is weak to absent — far thinner than the confident packaging suggests.
The harm-reduction move that actually works is unglamorous: less alcohol, more often. No pill buys back the dose.
Grade: Weak. Treat these as a false sense of security rather than a safeguard.
This is one row of the report card.
Look 40 at 60 grades every major intervention on the strength of the evidence — and ties each grade to its sources.