L-cysteine and the Treatment of Alcohol Hangover: A Commentary on Eriksson et al. (2020)

To the Editor:

Recently, Eriksson et al. (2020) assessed the effects of L-cysteine on alcohol hangover. Using randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled methodology, Eriksson et al. (2020) examined the effects of two dosages of L-cysteine (600 mg and 1200 mg) on alcohol hangover symptom severity. As discussed by the authors, correlational analysis revealed positive effects of L-cysteine administration on the prevention or alleviation of hangover symptoms. Following the 1200 mg dosage, improvements were reported for self-rated hangover, nausea and headache severity, while the 600 mg dosage alleviated stress and anxiety. While the study is important, there are several important issues and major limitations that were not in this publication.