Illustration: Becky Barnicoat/The Guardian Illustration: Becky Barnicoat/The GuardianIs it true that … you can sweat out a hangover?It’s the liver – not the skin – that rids the body of the toxins in alcohol, but exercise can help manage the symptomsHere’s a useful fact to quote to any smug relatives who say they went for a run the morning after their Christmas party: you can’t get rid of toxins by sweating. “Toxins” is a broad term, says Adam Taylor, professor of anatomy at Lancaster Medical School, covering anything that can damage the body – from heavy metals to chemicals found in plastics, as well as the normal byproducts of our own metabolism. The liver is designed to process the toxins in alcohol and either break them down into usable units or get rid of them.
