Former assistant editor Tiffanie doesn't actually remember what she drank the night prior to her experiment. "Probably wine and dark liquor," she offers. And with that comment, she passes the litmus test for being a hangover-cure test subject.

Tiffanie carefully considers her definition of sweating it out. "Jumping up and down is not ideal," she says, "so I went running."

But Tiffanie discovers that running as a hangover cure isn't ideal, either. "Moving constantly when you feel like you're gonna throw up is not fun," she elaborates. "Good idea, though. Maybe a steam sweat would be better." Guess I'll have to arrange for a bottle of rum and a spa appointment.

Grade: 5/10

A Puerto Rican folk remedy, rubbing a wedge of lemon or lime under one's armpit before drinking is believed to ward off hangover headaches. As for the science behind that one, well....

"This is a more holistic approach to curing a hangover," Pace says diplomatically. "It is said that your armpits absorb the lemon juice and help [treat] dehydration. This is one of the least effective hangover cures."

However, you can be pretty sure that rubbing a lemon in your armpit will cure you of wanting to shave your underarms ever again. Ouch.

I'm skeptical of this remedy, but not so skeptical that I'm not willing to make a coworker try it. Former associate editor Emily says she was driven to drunkenness by a friendly bartender who coaxed her with free shots of flavored vodka. Whatever you say, ya boozehound! The next day, "I had trouble concentrating and generally enjoying life," she reports. "I felt weak and slow."

Our hangover cure experiment contains one minor variable: I mistakenly instruct Emily to keep the lemon slices in her armpits, not rub them on her armpits. "It was kind of awkward because you just have to keep your arms clamped down for a while," she says, making me feel like the world's worst editor. "I left them under there for about 45 minutes. They did nothing, obviously. They didn't even make me smell like a lemon."

So she reformulates her hangover remedy strategy. "I used the rest of the lemon to squeeze into my water, which was actually really refreshing and helped me feel better," she says. And the armpit trick? "I would never do this again."

Grade: 1/10

With a logo featuring a big-busted angel, Mercy is clearly a drink (and claimed hangover cure) aimed at college-age, Red Bull-guzzling YOLOs. Lest this fizzy, orange-flavored beverage appear to be all sugar and no substance, a recent independent study indicates that 73 percent of subjects experienced an improvement in the physical symptoms (nausea, headache, dizziness, etc.) of a hangover and a 122 percent improvement in certain cognitive symptoms (reaction time and information-processing speed).

Pace is optimistic about Mercy's potential. "It contains a lot of vitamin B," she explains. "Pairing different forms of vitamin B together helps your body produce more of the detoxifying agent glutathione. When you have a shortage of this, you often get headaches and irritability." Pace also notes the presence of chamomile extract, which soothes an upset stomach -- which some of us desperately need in our hangover remedy. "What is most effective in these drinks is the vitamins, so another option could be to just take a multivitamin before you go out drinking." Bah! Too easy.

Given my perception of Mercy as the Official Drink of Frat Boys™, I'm surprised to learn that my classy coworker Dawn had been hoarding Mercy in her fridge. She calls upon the Angel of Mercy after a bachelorette party that involved a series of "fancy cocktails."

Obstacle No. 1 to Hangover Cure: Mercy's directions indicate that you must drink it after imbibing, but before you go to sleep, "which means the first challenge is actually remembering to drink it," Dawn explains. "But I did -- well, I drank half of it."

Obstacle No. 2 to Hangover Cure: "I didn't love the citrus flavor. It reminded me of Red Bull." (Ah ha!)

"The next morning, I was hungover -- but not very," she insists. "It's hard to know how much worse I would have felt if I hadn't had the Mercy, but I do think it made a small difference."

Grade: 7/10