The real villain isn't alcohol. It's what your body turns it into.
Alcohol itself isn't what makes you feel awful the next day. It's a chemical your liver produces while breaking it down: acetaldehyde. It's significantly more toxic than alcohol itself, and how fast your body clears it is the biggest factor in how rough tomorrow feels.
Two enzymes run that entire process. Knowing their names — ADH and ALDH — is the difference between vaguely knowing alcohol is "processed by the liver" and actually understanding what a product like Gush is trying to do.
The two-step breakdown
- ADH (alcohol dehydrogenase) converts alcohol into acetaldehyde. This happens fast, mostly in the liver.
- ALDH (aldehyde dehydrogenase) converts that acetaldehyde into acetate — a harmless compound your body clears easily.
The hangover-causing bottleneck is usually step two. Acetaldehyde builds up faster than ALDH can clear it, and that buildup is linked to the headache, nausea, flushing, and general misery of a hangover.
Where Korean pear fits in
A 2012 mechanism study published in Phytotherapy Research looked at what Korean pear (Pyrus pyrifolia cv. Shingo) actually does at the enzyme level. In vitro, pear stimulated ADH activity 2–3x and ALDH activity roughly 1.3x — meaning both steps of the pathway move faster, and less acetaldehyde has time to build up.
Researchers point to arbutin — one of the most abundant polyphenols in Korean pear, concentrated especially in the peel — as a likely driver of this effect, alongside chlorogenic acid and quercetin, two other well-documented pear compounds.
Why the acronyms are worth knowing
"Detox" and "flush the toxins" are marketing phrases. ADH and ALDH are the actual biology — the two enzymes any legitimate hangover-prevention ingredient has to interact with to do anything at all. If a product makes a hangover claim with no mention of either one, that's worth a second look.
Want to know why this pathway hits some people so much harder than others? Read why some people get hit harder: ALDH2 and the "Asian flush" gene.
Source: Cho, M.H., Shim, S.M., Lee, S.R., Mar, W., Kim, G.H., & Lee, H. (2012). Effects and action mechanisms of Korean pear (Pyrus pyrifolia cv. Shingo) on alcohol detoxification. Phytotherapy Research.