A hangover generally resolves on its own within 24 hours, but the right combination of fluids, food, rest, and pain relief can shorten your misery and help you feel functional sooner. There’s no instant cure, but understanding what’s actually happening in your body points you toward the strategies that work best.
Why You Feel This Bad
When your body breaks down alcohol, it produces a toxic byproduct called acetaldehyde. This compound triggers inflammation throughout your body, activating the same immune signaling molecules that make you feel awful when you’re sick. That’s why a hangover can feel eerily similar to the flu: headache, nausea, body aches, brain fog.
But inflammation is only part of the picture. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it makes you urinate more than the volume of liquid you’re taking in. The resulting dehydration concentrates your blood, thickens mucus membranes, and contributes to that pounding headache. On top of that, your liver is so busy processing alcohol that it can’t maintain your blood sugar properly. Your levels drop and stay low until the alcohol is cleared, which is why you wake up shaky, fatigued, and craving carbs. Finally, alcohol wrecks your sleep. It suppresses REM sleep, the restorative phase tied to memory, learning, and concentration, and causes rebound insomnia as it wears off. Even if you were in bed for eight hours, your brain didn’t get the rest it needed.
Rehydrate Strategically
Water is the most important thing you can put in your body the morning after. But plain water alone won’t fully replace what you lost. Alcohol depletes electrolytes like sodium and potassium, so drinks that contain these minerals will help you recover faster. Sports drinks, coconut water, or even broth all work well. Pedialyte or similar oral rehydration solutions are especially effective because they’re designed for exactly this kind of fluid loss.
Sip steadily rather than chugging. If you’re nauseous, large volumes of liquid at once can make things worse. Small, frequent sips over the course of a couple hours will keep you from overwhelming your stomach while still getting fluids where they need to go.
Eat the Right Foods
Your blood sugar is low, and your stomach lining is irritated. The goal is gentle, nutrient-dense food that addresses both problems without making nausea worse.
Toast, crackers, or bananas are easy starting points if your stomach is sensitive. Once you can tolerate more, eggs are one of the best hangover foods. They’re rich in cysteine, an amino acid found in high-protein foods like meat, dairy, legumes, and nuts. Cysteine helps your body produce glutathione, a compound your liver uses heavily during alcohol metabolism. Eggs also provide B vitamins, which alcohol depletes.
Bland carbohydrates like oatmeal or rice help bring your blood sugar back up. Avoid greasy, heavy food if you’re still nauseous. The “greasy breakfast” tradition is more comforting than it is scientifically helpful, and it can backfire on an already irritated stomach.
Choose the Right Pain Reliever
For a headache, ibuprofen or aspirin are your safest options. Both reduce the inflammation driving your symptoms. Take them with food to protect your stomach lining, which is already irritated from the alcohol.
Avoid acetaminophen (Tylenol) while you’re hungover. The FDA warns that people who drink three or more alcoholic beverages should talk to a doctor before using it, because both alcohol and acetaminophen are processed by the liver. Combining them while your liver is still clearing alcohol increases the risk of liver damage. Stick with ibuprofen or aspirin instead.
Sleep More If You Can
Alcohol suppresses the deep, restorative phases of sleep, particularly REM sleep, which normally increases during the second half of the night. It also causes a withdrawal effect as it wears off, waking you up in the early morning hours. This is called rebound insomnia, and it’s why you might find yourself wide awake at 4 a.m. feeling terrible.
If your schedule allows it, going back to sleep is one of the most effective hangover remedies. Your body can finally cycle through normal sleep stages without alcohol interfering. Even a 90-minute nap can make a noticeable difference in how groggy and foggy you feel. A dark, cool room with minimal noise gives your brain the best shot at real rest.
What Doesn’t Work
“Hair of the dog,” or drinking more alcohol, delays your hangover rather than curing it. You’re essentially restarting the cycle and pushing the symptoms into the future. Coffee can help with alertness and may ease a caffeine-withdrawal headache if you’re a regular coffee drinker, but it’s also a diuretic, so pair it with extra water. Activated charcoal, IV drip services, and most “hangover cure” supplements have little reliable evidence behind them.
Prevent a Worse Hangover Next Time
The type of alcohol you drink matters more than most people realize. Dark liquors like bourbon, brandy, cognac, and red whiskey contain high levels of congeners, chemical byproducts of fermentation that worsen hangover symptoms. Tequila, despite being lighter in color, also has high congener levels. Clear drinks like vodka, gin, light rum, white wine, and light beer tend to have lower congener content, which generally means less severe aftereffects.
Eating a substantial meal before drinking slows alcohol absorption and reduces the peak blood alcohol level your body has to deal with. Alternating each alcoholic drink with a glass of water addresses dehydration in real time rather than trying to fix it the next morning. And pacing matters: your liver processes roughly one standard drink per hour. Everything beyond that is accumulating, waiting its turn, and producing more of the toxic byproducts that make tomorrow miserable.
Drinking a full glass of water and eating a small snack before bed gives your body a head start on recovery while you sleep. It won’t prevent a hangover entirely after a heavy night, but it consistently reduces the severity of symptoms the next day.