A major foodie, Avi is so wrecked from a late-night partying with coworkers that the farm-to-table Italian fare in front of us holds no allure. Desperate for a hangover cure stat, I summon our waiter for a Sprite on the rocks. After downing the beverage, Avi is noticeably perkier. "I had really intense heartburn, and not necessarily queasiness, but I didn't have room in my stomach," he explains. "After drinking a sweet, bubbly thing, I don't feel like I have heartburn anymore."

"I was worried that I couldn't even drink it because I felt so unwell, and now I feel like I can eat again," he says brightly, tackling his ravioli in cream sauce with renewed gusto.

However, a mere 10 minutes later, Avi's heartburn -- and pout -- return. So much for the Sprite hangover cure (and, for that matter, the pasta).

Grade: 6/10

A sweaty workout is touted by men's lifestyle magazines as a tried-and-true hangover cure, but Pace is wary.

"This isn't as effective as some people think," she says. "If you exercise and aren't properly hydrating, you could actually make yourself feel worse. Although exercise is always good, and we should always be doing this, when you have a hangover, it may be the worst time." Rest and plenty of water are more effective prescriptions, she says.

Not to be deterred, we dug our running shoes out of the closet and put them by the bed -- and then headed out to get our beer goggles on.

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