Review: Drinkwel Multivitamins for Drinkers
A reader asked me about this product and the company behind it was kind enough to send a sample. The idea is nothing like anything else I’ve experienced to date: Multivitamins designed for drinkers.
Makes sense: Hangover remedies are almost always stuffed with various vitamins, so why not just incorporate those into your daily vitamin routine and skip hangover meds altogether?
I tried Drinkwel for several weeks and here’s what I have to report.
The ingredients of Drinkwel are lengthy and resemble your typical multivitamin, including Vitamins C, E, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, folic acid, biotin, pantothenic acid, magnesium, zinc, selenium, copper, manganese, and chromium. On top of this are over a dozen amino acids and herbs, including N-acetyl Cysteine, Taurine, L-Theanine, kudzu, milk thistle, rhodiola, artichoke leaf, green tea extract, acerola, bupleurum root (no idea), schisandra extract (ditto), acai, gogi berry, and betaine HCl. Whew!
You are supposed to take three of these capsules daily, plus another three if you drink. The sheer quantity of stuff you are supposed to consume is the main problem here. No one likes taking vitamins and I sure as hell don’t like taking six funky-smelling capsules every day. Besides, with 90 in a bottle, if you’re taking six a day, you’ll be out of stock in just 15 days. That’s a sizeable investment (though hopefully you aren’t drinking that much and can stick with the three-a-day regimen most of the time).
As for the results, I can’t report much. I switched from a regular B-centric multivitamin to Drinkwel for the test and didn’t really feel any different whether I was drinking that night or not. While I didn’t drink to excess and stuck with the three-a-day regimen, I didn’t really feel any better or worse at any point in the day than I did with my normal vitamin.
At about day 12, however, I found I began to get headaches in the afternoon. I stopped taking Drinkwel at that point and the headaches continued for a few more days, then they went away. I can’t blame Drinkwel for this based on such minimal evidence, of course, but it’s possible that I had an allergic reaction to one of the many unusual ingredients in the capsules. I am wondering, though, if anyone else has experienced anything similar.
Bottom line: If you’re not taking a multivitamin, Drinkwel probably isn’t a bad way to get into the habit, but I’m not sure your mileage will vary much vs. a typical OTC multi. Let me know if it does!
$40 for 90 capsules (15-30 days) / drinkwel.com
Drinkwel Multivitamins for Drinkers
$40
Or you could simply drink in moderation and thus avoid the hangover. Your health would improve, and you’d never have the dreads.
In all seriousness, there’s no evidence that *moderate* drinking interferes with vitamin availability. In fact, daily moderate alcohol consumption prolongs life and improves health in a variety of ways. Please get the facts by visiting the website of David J. Hanson, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Sociology of the State University of New York at Potsdam. You’ll learn a ton, and you’ll be entertained in the process. Here’s a good place to start:
Alcohol & Health
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/AlcoholAndHealth.html
I’d rather spend the $40 on a premium blanco tequila and maybe just grab a few extra limes.
Yeesh, this site would be a lot better if you chilled out with all the snake oil and stuck to reviewing booze.
Josh – the one “vitamin” review out of 1300 reviews so far is bringing down the site? Hmmm.
Jesus. Who let in the moderation police? Don’t pretend that you always drink in moderation.
One out of 1300? There’s a lot of hangover remedy snake oil on here. Real talk.