Have you ever noticed that some pain relievers work better for you than others? Some people swear by aspirin as their favorite pain reliever whereas others say the only thing that works for them is acetaminophen. Others even go so far as to say that different pain relievers work for them in different situations. Your crazy aunt might say:
"Headache? Oh, my go to for those is ibuprofen and a cup of coffee—it works every time! However, if it’s muscle aches, I always use acetaminophen. Aspirin never works for me though… so I don’t use it.”
While your aunt might be a bit insane, in everything from politics to her opinion on cats, her belief about different drugs affecting her in different ways is not wrong. It’s not a copout for various drugs either… she’s perceived something that is indeed factual, despite not many people knowing about it—even well-intentioned physicians. The truth is: drugs not only affect biology, but biology also affects drugs.
By the end of this article, we’ll explain that while Cheers’ products are highly effective for many people, there are also those who in fact may not notice any difference. And that’s ok! That’s just how the human body works. And per our refund policy, that’s why we offer a money-back guarantee if Cheers’ products aren’t highly effective for you.
In a massive review of current studies and research published in 2011, scientists at Oxford University in England examined 350 different studies involving about 45,000 patients. They looked at doses of single painkillers as well as combinations of drugs, totaling 38 different pain medications — everything from acetaminophen, aspirin and ibuprofen to more powerful opiate derivatives. (1)
In NPR’s coverage of the research, they reported: “Biochemist Andrew Moore headed the study, which aimed to explore whether one medication worked “best” for most people. Their conclusion: No. Certain pain medications which worked to relieve pain for certain individuals were barely noticeable for others.” (2)
How is this possible? According to Dr. Perry Fine (President of the American Academy of Pain Medicine), it’s all in the biology: “Human beings, person to person to person, are very different in the way they respond to drugs, and one size does not fit all.” And that, in [a] large part, [this] results from genetic differences in our pain receptors — the cells in our nervous system that recognize pain and transmit that message to the brain. Dr. Fine further explains that just slight differences in the chemical nature of the drugs we use affect people differently, depending on their genetic makeup. (3)
According to the lead researcher of the large-scale pain-reliever study, Moore states that it’s a simple message for physicians, and that: “If the first painkiller a patient tries doesn’t seem to be working, then a doctor should look to find an alternative reliable drug and see if it is more effective in that individual patient.” (4)
"Pain specialist Perry Fine says that coming up with effective pain treatment for patients is often a matter of trial and error. In the absence of genetic testing to predict a patient’s response to a certain painkiller, the best option, he says, is to figure out a pain relief combination based on the patient’s past experience in coping with pain.” (5)
In summary, according to the above pain specialists and researchers—and in absence of genetic testing or a telling medical history, trial and error is often the simplest path to see how well a solution may or may not work for you. This is why at Cheers we offer a full refund on up to one of each of our products if they don’t work for you—just let us know within 30 days of ordering (which gives you a few weeks after receiving your shipment to try out our stuff)! 🍻
On our website, you will often see this image, which is a graphic showing how the formula behind Cheers Restore worked for some people. But where does it come from and what does it mean?
Well, all of it comes back to a human study referenced in our granted patent, US 9,603,830 B2: “Compositions and methods for preventing and recovery from detrimental effects of alcohol consumption.”
In this study, users of various combinations of 1) dihydromyricetin & 2) cysteine (those combinations alone, as well as those with other ingredients), experienced various levels of feeling better across a myriad of issues ranging from “general well-being” to “mental energy”. On average, users reported feeling 50 percentage points better across these issues. Note, in our marketing, we often say “50% better” for the sake of ease… but our actual results were based on 50 percentage points, which is even more impressive.
So what does this mean? Well for starters, an average is just an average and does not show the standard deviations. While the Cheers Restore formula (dihydromyricetin + cysteine) made people feel better across the board, it did not equally make everyone feel better by the same amount. Some people improved by a lot (such as close to 80 percentage points) whereas others improved by less (such as close to 20 percentage points). This averages out to 50 percentage points better… but averages miss the fact that sometimes the results are hit or miss.
To illustrate this, consider a test where the “averaged” a grade of 85%. You might think that everyone did reasonable and were near the 85% score. However, it’s also possible that half the class studied well and the other half didn’t, and thus there was a large standard deviation in test scores, with around half of the students getting around 95% (great) and the other half getting around 75% (poor). In this case, people either understood the subject matter well or they didn’t, without a whole lot in the middle.
Based on our Amazon reviews, the distribution of results with Cheers could be similar, about 2/3rds of people see a great deal of beneficial efficacy, about 1/6th of people see a good deal of beneficial efficacy, and about 1/6th of people see little to no efficacy. (In actuality, this last 1/6th of people is likely even less, as not everyone leaves reviews, and generally upset people leave more reviews than happy people. A sad part of life is that people are quicker to complain than to praise—it’s just how people are.)
While we would love to have a product that works great for everyone equally, that’s just not how the human body works. Humans are impossibly complex, and as shown in the large scale pain reliever study above, it’s completely reasonable for some people to see amazing results whereas others see limited (or even zero) results.
The importance however, is to not throw the baby out with the bath water. Just because it doesn’t work for some people doesn’t mean it doesn’t work wonders for others.
We learned this early on and thus decided that the best way to appease everyone would be to have a consumer-friendly refund policy that allows people to try one of each of our products risk-free by allowing them to get a full refund on them if they reach out letting us know they didn’t work for them within 30 days of ordering. That way both the people who love the product and those that don’t are also happy. 🙂 (6)
We get this question all the time—from customers, friends, family, investors, etc. The truth is that we don’t—but we do have a theory. Like as mentioned in the Oxford study above, there are infinite genetic differences between people that makes it impossible to fully know why a drug or product works for some people, but not others.
However, that doesn’t mean we can’t know the the leading causes. In the Oxford study, Dr. Fine offered the commentary that it was “genetic differences in our pain receptors” that likely led to the differences. (7) That isn’t to say that there are not any reasons outside of pain receptors leading to differences, but rather that these differences at the level of pain receptors are likely causing the majority of the observed differences.
In the same way, there’s likely a lot of biological systems at play for why Cheers Restore’s combination of ingredients works so well for many, but not for select others. If someone put a gun to our head and made us guess, we would probably say that it has to do with genetic differences at the GABAa receptor level.
Have you ever noticed that some people tend to love alcohol more than others? As a microcosm for the world, you could just look at the difference between me and my wife. I love alcohol. I use it responsibly and am a healthy drinker, but I’d be lying if I said that there hasn’t been occasions when I’ve had too much on either an occasion—or over a quarter. Winston Churchill, Earnest Hemmingway, Ulysses Grant, Alexander the Great, and many others all drank a lot—some people are “drinkers” (at varying levels from “responsible & health-conscious” to “out of control”). My wife on the other hand hardly ever drinks—some people are just “non-drinkers”. She’s also in good company: Warren Buffett, Abraham Lincoln, Joe Biden & Donald Trump, John D. Rockefeller, and more do not drink at all.
In her own words: “I don’t really get the appeal or like the feeling.” To which in mind, I think: “How could you not like the feeling!?”
The fact is that we probably have a large degree of variation at the receptor level in our brains that makes someone like me really enjoy the effects of alcohol, but makes someone like her find less enjoyment and relaxation from it. While the brain is more complex than just one set of receptors, chances are that the main reason for our differences lies with the GABAa receptor and the systems surrounding it.
Research has shown that overall, people who have family histories of alcoholism tend to get worse hangovers. (7) Why is this the case? Likely because those people have GABAa receptors that are more sensitive to alcohol, and thus alcohol makes them feel better when it’s in their bloodstream, but then paradoxically also makes them feel worse when alcohol leaves their bloodstream and GABAa rebound kicks in.
For the record, many people drink more alcohol the next day because they don’t feel well. It’s why “hair of the dog” and Bloody Marys are a thing. In another blog post, we explain how that reducing GABAa rebound is definitely not part of the problem, but very well might be part of the solution.
In this article we showed that through the major Oxford study of pain relievers that different drugs have wildly different levels of efficacy for different individuals. For some, aspirin was a clear winner, but hardly moves the needle in others. And for someone else, sodium naproxen might not do a thing… but acetaminophen is a godsend. The researchers concluded that no drug is perfect for everyone, and thus, people have to figure out which pain relievers work for them through trial and error.
The above study was done in pain relievers, however, it can be extended to other areas of medicine as well. For example, when it comes to heart health, doctors are always trying to optimize people’s heart health biomarkers: LDL, HDL, triglycerides, blood pressure, etc. For some people, they always have perfect metrics no matter how many soft drinks, hamburgers, and cigarettes they consume. For others, diet and exercise is all they need. In other people, the use of a statin does everything they need. And for some unlucky few, the only way to get their metrics in a healthy zone is through a combination of everything: diet, exercise, statins, fibrates, niacin, and more. No human is the same… though these things may more or less run through a family via genetics. The genetic lottery is all too real!
Therefore, when it comes to feeling better after alcohol consumption, we shouldn’t expect one solution to work for everyone. Cheers Restore is by far our most popular product and works primarily by i) reducing GABAa rebound and ii) acetaldehyde levels following alcohol consumption. For those who are mainly negative affected by these, specifically GABAa rebound, they will likely experience great results with Cheers Restore.
That’s why for many Cheers users they’ll notice amazing results and others will only notice a little. No, your husband/wife/friend that doesn’t experience the same thing you do isn’t crazy. That’s just biology!
The only way to know for sure if Cheers’ products will work for you is to try them. And we want you to be able to do that risk free… which is why we offer a no-questions-asked refund policy if you let us know that our product(s) didn’t work for you within 30 days of ordering.
So what are you waiting for? Order Cheers, go out and have a responsibly fun time, and take Cheers and see if it works for you! If it does, then mission accomplished, now you have a better way to enjoy alcohol. 🍻 If it doesn’t, then no harm no foul, just let us know by sending us an email and we will get a refund processed for you right away! 💸
(1) Neighmond, Patti. “When It Comes To Pain Relief, One Size Doesn't Fit All.” NPR, National Public Radio, 26 Sept. 2011, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2011/09/26/140705557/when-it-comes-to-pain-relief-one-size-doesnt-fit-all.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Refund Policy, cheershealth.com/refunds.
(7) Swift, R, and D Davidson. “Alcohol Hangover: Mechanisms and Mediators.” Alcohol Health and Research World, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1998, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6761819/.
(8) Moore, R Andrew, et al. “Single Dose Oral Analgesics for Acute Postoperative Pain in Adults - an Overview of Cochrane Reviews.” The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 28 Sept. 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6485441/.
Cheers is the leading alcohol-related health brand focused on developing products that support your liver and help you feel great the next day. As a student at Princeton, Cheers’ founder Brooks Powell discovered the potential advantage of incorporating the natural plant extract Dihydromyricetin (DHM) into an after-alcohol consumption regimen and began working with his professors to make products that addressed the unique challenges of alcohol-related health. . Since its official launch in 2017, Cheers has sold more than 13 million doses to over 300 thousand customers. The research-backed line of products includes three versions of supplemental pills and powders – Restore, Hydrate and Protect. Cheers is now releasing read-to-drink versions of their products—starting with Cheers Restore. Each product is equipped to meet different health needs such as rehydration, liver support, and acetaldehyde exposure. Cheers places an equal emphasis on the responsibility and health aspects of its mission and vision. The brand’s mission is bringing people together by promoting fun, responsible, and health-conscious alcohol consumption. The vision is a world where everyone can enjoy alcohol throughout a long, healthy, and happy lifetime. For more information, visit cheershealth.com or join the social conversation at @cheershealth.