Umeboshi Plums, the Saltiest Hangover Cure

Interested in the saltiest, tartest, most unpleasant tasting hangover cure?

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to the umeboshi plum.

First of all, what are they?

Umeboshi are Japanese pickled ume fruits that resemble apricots more than plums. They’re packed with sea salt and shiso leaves before being pressed.

So, how are the medicinal?

Umeboshi are alkalizing to the blood because of their high citric acid content. Your blood likes to be slightly alkaline because acidic blood allows fungi and bacteria to thrive.

Hold up! – wouldn’t citric acid make your blood more acidic? In the case of citric fruits, they’re actually alkalizing because, after digestion, they leave minerals behind that help remove hydrogen ions and decrease your blood’s acidity.

These little pickled buggers are perfect to help sway the vote of alkaline vs. acidic.

They’re good for:

• Diarrhea
• Digestion
• Nausea prevention

And, as the post title states, they’re also known to help hangovers and sugar binges. In The Kind Diet, Alicia Silverstone talked about first trying one when extremely hungover and claims to have felt great eating just half a fruit.

My hangover cure test is pending, but I did eat one after a sugar binge. Who knows if it was a placebo effect (what ever happened to the band Placebo, by the way?), but I did feel better about an hour after popping one.

However, here’s my BIG FAT WORD OF WARNING: umeboshi plums are quite possibly the most unpleasant thing I have ever tasted.

I forgot Alicia’s “extremely sour” warning when my mom and I each tried one. Honestly, I only got half of one down before coughing and spitting out the rest. Our reactions were priceless.

If you feel like taking your own umeboshi hangover test, it turns out the most common way of ingesting umeboshi is in tiny quantities with rice, or soaking one in hot water and then drinking the liquid and eating the plum together. And have a chaser ready.