There’s no instant cure for a hangover, but you can shorten its duration and ease the worst symptoms with a combination of rehydration, food, rest, and the right pain reliever. Hangover symptoms peak when your blood alcohol level drops back to zero and can last 24 hours or longer, so the goal is to support your body’s recovery process rather than wait it out passively.
Why You Feel This Bad
A hangover isn’t just dehydration, though that’s part of it. When your liver breaks down alcohol, the process generates oxidative stress and triggers an inflammatory response throughout your body. That inflammation is what drives the headache, nausea, fatigue, and general misery. Alcohol also suppresses your liver’s ability to regulate blood sugar, which is why you may feel shaky, weak, or foggy the morning after.
On top of all that, alcohol wrecks your sleep. Even at low doses (roughly two standard drinks), alcohol delays and reduces REM sleep, the deep, restorative phase your brain needs most. Higher doses make this worse. So even if you were “asleep” for eight hours, you woke up with a fraction of the quality rest your body expected. That sleep deficit compounds every other symptom.
Rehydrate, But Do It Right
Water alone helps, but adding electrolytes speeds things up. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it pulls fluid and minerals out of your system faster than normal. Drinking a glass of water with an electrolyte powder, a sports drink, or even broth replaces both the fluid and the sodium and potassium you’ve lost. Pedialyte or similar oral rehydration solutions work well because they’re designed for exactly this kind of deficit.
One thing to avoid: more alcohol. The “hair of the dog” idea has a sliver of biochemical logic. Your body converts trace amounts of methanol (present in most alcoholic drinks) into toxic compounds like formaldehyde, and drinking more alcohol temporarily blocks that conversion. But you’re only delaying the inevitable. Once the new alcohol wears off, your body still has to process everything, and you’ve added to the total load.
What to Eat
Eating is one of the most effective things you can do, even if your stomach protests. Focus on foods that address what your body is actually missing.
- Eggs are particularly useful. They’re rich in cysteine, an amino acid your body uses to produce glutathione, a key antioxidant. Drinking depletes your glutathione stores, making it harder for your liver to process alcohol’s toxic byproducts. Eggs help rebuild that supply.
- Toast, crackers, or oatmeal raise your blood sugar, which alcohol suppressed. Simple carbs like crackers provide a quick boost, while oatmeal offers a slower, steadier release that can keep you feeling stable longer.
- Honey contains high levels of fructose, which may help your body clear alcohol faster. One study found honey increased the rate of alcohol elimination by up to 32%. Spread it on toast for a combination of quick sugar and carbs.
- Bananas or avocados replenish potassium, one of the electrolytes you lose most from alcohol’s diuretic effect.
If nausea makes eating difficult, start small. A few bites of plain crackers or a spoonful of honey can be enough to get your blood sugar moving in the right direction. Ginger tea or ginger chews can also help settle your stomach enough to tolerate solid food.
Choosing the Right Pain Reliever
This matters more than most people realize. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and alcohol are both processed by the liver, and combining them increases the risk of liver damage. Acetaminophen is safe at proper doses under normal circumstances, but after a night of heavy drinking, your liver is already working overtime.
Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) or naproxen (Aleve) are anti-inflammatories, which makes them a better match for the inflammatory process driving your headache. That said, NSAIDs can irritate the stomach lining, which alcohol has already aggravated. Take them with food, not on an empty stomach. If you have a history of stomach ulcers or kidney issues, be cautious with NSAIDs as well.
Rest and Let Your Sleep Catch Up
Since alcohol robbed you of quality REM sleep, a nap can genuinely help. Even a short one gives your brain a chance to get some of the restorative sleep it missed. Don’t fight the fatigue if you have the option to rest. Keep the room cool and dark, and aim for 20 to 90 minutes. A full sleep cycle (about 90 minutes) will leave you feeling noticeably better than white-knuckling through the afternoon.
What to Do Next Time
Prevention is dramatically more effective than any cure. A few strategies have actual evidence behind them.
Eating a full meal before drinking slows alcohol absorption and gives your body a head start on maintaining blood sugar. One small study found that people whose diets contained more zinc and B vitamins in the 24 hours surrounding a drinking session had less severe hangovers, so nutrient-dense meals before and after matter.
Alternating alcoholic drinks with water reduces both the total alcohol consumed and the dehydration that follows. Drinking a full glass of water before bed helps, too, though it won’t fully prevent symptoms if you’ve had a lot.
The type of alcohol also plays a role. Clear liquors like vodka and gin tend to cause less severe hangovers than darker drinks like whiskey, red wine, and tequila. Darker drinks contain higher levels of congeners, byproducts of fermentation that add flavor but also add to the toxic load your body has to process.
Korean pear juice is one of the more unusual preventive options with some research behind it, but there’s a catch: it only appears to work when consumed before drinking, not after. If you’re reading this mid-hangover, file that one away for next time.