The day of my 10-year high school reunion, some friends and I hunkered down in a smoky small-town bar, struggling to recover from the night before.

We had all gulped too much cheap beer at a $5 all-you-can-drink social — and gleefully threw back Jagermeister and tequila shots until 3 a.m. to celebrate rekindling of old friendships.

Our fun had become agony as we sobered up, booze-stenched, cigarette-smoke soaked and still queasy from our late-night visit to White Castle.

My older brother coaxed us to "Get back on the launching pad" and have some Bloody Marys.

"Trust your elders. Drinking is the best hangover cure," he said assuredly.

I thought of that painful October afternoon when I recently received a news release from Denver-based Anti-Aging Health Stores proclaiming: "Never have a hangover again!"

With alcohol-bathed New Year's Eve celebrations on the horizon, I decided to do some investigative reporting. Ron McKey, co-owner of Anti-Aging Health Stores' Hangover to Go product, gladly sent several sample packets, each containing six large yellow capsules.

"Take two before you go out, two during the party and two before you go to bed," McKey advised.

Hangover pills — full of ingredients such as extracts from green tea leaves, pine bark, turmeric as well as vitamin B, magnesium stearate, calcium carbonate, rosemary and broccoli concentrate — are meant to stabilize body functions despite alcohol's attack on the liver and other organs.

The pills do not stop a person from getting drunk.

None of the brands mentioned in this article has been Food and Drug Administration tested.

Dr. Tom Kunstman, the University of Colorado Wardenburg Health Center's lead physician, is skeptical that any of the products really work, as it appears none has been put to the truly scientific test of "double-blinded" controlled studies.

If people believe a pill may help them, that belief alone can work wonders, he said.

"The power of placebo is quite strong," Kunstman said. "I don't think there's necessarily anything that will predictably be able to prevent a hangover."

He also stressed responsible drinking — not getting drunk, and, of course, not getting behind the wheel when intoxicated, "which is the thing that really kills people."

Intoxication occurs when you consume alcohol faster than your body can metabolize it.

The liver gets rid of about 80 percent of the alcohol in each drink. Its main alcohol-destroying enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase, begins a process that eventually changes alcohol into carbon dioxide and water.

Women have lower levels of ADH in the stomach, so more alcohol in each drink gets absorbed into the blood, meaning women tend to get drunk faster.

"Your liver gets pretty much abused when drinking, and it works hard to get rid of alcohol," said Holly Hunter, manager of Boulder's Vitamin Cottage, which sells Source Natural's Hangover Formula.

Customers have praised Hangover Formula, which Hunter says probably works because the ingredients support liver function and replenish nutrients that alcohol depletes.

"We do usually sell a lot of it — and it goes pretty fast, especially this week," she said.

A typical 150-pound man metabolizes one standard drink's worth of alcohol in an hour. That's 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits. Most alcohol disappears in metabolism, the process in which enzymes in the stomach, liver and other organs break down food and drugs into simpler compounds.

General Nutrition Center and Bova's Pantry, among other area retailers, also carry so-called hangover prevention formulas. There are about a dozen brands.

A GNC clerk said the store also sells a vitamin drink called Emer'gen-C that people swear by as a morning-of hangover cure.

"I drink it as an energy shot," she said.

I ordered three products — Hangover To Go, Chaser and Hangover Prevention Formula — from their makers' respective Web sites to test Christmas week. They ranged in price from $2.99 to $7.95 for a single dosage.

The ingredients of all three varied. Hangover To Go is largely composed of roots, herb extracts and citrus bioflavinoids; Chaser's primary ingredients are activated calcium carbonate and vegetable carbon; and Hangover Prevention Formula is made of niacin, calcium pantothenate, thiamin, B6 and riboflavin.

But to me there was little difference between the pill types — as they largely delivered on their common promise to prevent hangovers without killing alcohol's intoxicating buzz.

Below is a short review of each:

Hangover To Go (www.hangovertogo.com)

Scenario: Meeting friends at the Southern Sun

Drinks: Two pitchers of Colorado Kind among four people — about four 16-ounce glasses each. Two more drinks at home.

Review: Success! As recommended, before, during and after drinking I popped two mustard-yellow pills. The product is supposed to fight the cause of hangovers using "a combination of antioxidants and isoflavones."

Six drinks normally leaves me with an aching head, dry mouth and queasy morning stomach. Instead, I felt fine, like any other morning. My husband, who also sampled the pills, said he felt "more hyper" in the morning but experienced none of the side effects that usually accompany several beers.

Chaser (www.chaserpills.net)

Scenario: Christmas dinner with another couple

Drinks: Five bottles of red wine — about six glasses myself.

Review: Another boozer victory! Chaser, which recommends taking two caplets with your first drink and two more caplets every two to three hours or five to six drinks, left me feeling alert and ready for work the next day. In the evening, I felt a little drowsy, as normally occurs following a hangover. I also didn't crave greasy food in the morning, but later I sought comfort grub and ate three fish tacos. I still give Chaser a thumbs-up for the simple fact that I experienced no headache or sickness. Chaser also sells a product specifically for wine headaches that may be more effective.

Hangover Prevention Formula (www.perfectequation.net)

Scenario: Bar hopping in Denver

Review: Unlike the previous two brands, HPF must be taken two hours before drinking and is most effective if foods and drinks do not contain fiber. That means no beer, fruit or juices, breads, cereals, pastas or crackers. I broke this rule and drank beer — lots of it. I also sampled other non-fiber drinks including my personal favorite, a gin and tonic. I consumed far more alcohol on this outing than the previous two and didn't keep count. Considering all this, I was impressed that HPF still worked. I woke up tired, but with no headache or queasy stomach. I also had enough energy to get up at 8:30 a.m. and stayed up reading after my husband went to bed.

What did I learn? The hardest thing about preventing a hangover is drinking responsibly. I know I usually have good intentions when meeting up with friends for a beer — I solemnly promise myself to keep my wits about me (absolutely no late-night fast food!), drink lots of water, make it home at a decent hour.

But we all know how well that works, especially after a few drinks.