First, there was alcohol. And it was good. Then – likely the next morning – came the nauseous, head-pounding hangover. And it was very bad. For thousands of years, different cultures all over the world have suffered hangovers, and have subsequently tried just about everything – from the weird to the gross – to cure them.  Even science can’t figure out a silver bullet cure.

So, how well do you know your hangover cures?  Take the quiz below, and check the answers at the end.

Which of the following isn’t a real hangover cure practiced by an ancient culture?

a. Wrapping one’s head in cabbage – Ancient Greece

b. Eating sheep lungs and owl eggs – Ancient Greece (again)

c. Swallowing a raw eel – Middle Ages

d. All of the above are real

2. Which of these is a fake hangover cure or form of hangover prevention?

a. Doing voodoo on the booze that poisoned you

b. Burying yourself in sand, up to your neck, the morning after

c. Rubbing lemons or limes under your armpits before you drink

d. All of these are real too, aren’t they?

3. What is the grossest hangover cure that people have actually tried?

a.  Rabbit turd tea, drank by cowboys – the Old West

b.  Pickled sheep’s eye in tomato juice – Mongolia

c.  Dried bull penis – Sicily

d.  Oof. All pretty nasty. I’d just take the hangover, thanks.

4. Which of the following ingredients was not used in “Goddard’s drops,” a hangover elixir developed by 17th-Century physician Jonathan Goddard?

a.  Dried-up viper

b.  Ammonia

c.  The skull of a hanged man

d.  All of them were used. What the hell was this guy thinking?

5. Which of these actual hangover cures involving birds was never practised?

a. Eating fertilized duck embryo, still in an egg

b. Drinking sparrow droppings in brandy

c. Eating a deep-fried canary

d. Sigh. They’ve all been done, haven’t they? Poor birds.

6. Which of these isn’t a scientifically recommended way to help get rid of a hangover?

a. Water

b. Sodium (salt)

c. Potassium, like in bananas

d. These are all too boring for one of them to be fake

7. Which of these isn’t a hangover cure that’s still practised?

a. Prairie oyster (a raw egg yolk, Worcester sauce, tobacco sauce, salt and vinegar, FYI)

b. Poutine

c. Pickle juice

d. We’ve tried them all

8. The only way to ensure you don’t get a hangover is:

a. Drink water before, during, and after drinking alcohol

b. Avoiding drinks that have congeners (i.e. unfiltered, cheaper drinks)

c. Hair of the dog!

d. Don’t drink anything at all. But that’s not really an option, so maybe I’ll try that wrapping-your-head-in-cabbage-thing the next time I overdo it at the craft beer fest.

(ANSWERS: ‘D’ for all of them)