Most hangovers resolve on their own within 24 hours, but the right combination of fluids, food, rest, and timing can make those hours significantly more bearable. There’s no instant cure, and a systematic review published in the journal Addiction found only very low-quality evidence that any commercial “hangover remedy” actually works. What does help is understanding what’s happening in your body and addressing each symptom directly.
Why You Feel This Bad
When your liver processes alcohol, it first converts it into a toxic compound called acetaldehyde. That substance is eventually broken down into harmless acetic acid, but while it lingers, it contributes to nausea, headache, and general misery. Your body processes the main alcohol (ethanol) first, then moves on to methanol, a second fermentation byproduct found in small amounts in most drinks. Methanol breaks down into formaldehyde, which is even more unpleasant. This is why hangovers often peak the morning after: your body only starts dealing with methanol once all the ethanol is gone.
On top of that, alcohol suppresses a hormone that helps your kidneys retain water, so you lose fluid and electrolytes faster than normal. It also disrupts your blood sugar. Your liver’s ability to produce new glucose can drop by up to 45% after moderate drinking, which is why you might feel shaky, weak, or foggy the next day. And the sleep you got was worse than you think: alcohol fragments REM sleep and shortens overall sleep time, even if you passed out quickly.
Start With Water, but Don’t Stop There
Rehydration is the most straightforward thing you can do. Drinking water helps with dehydration symptoms like dry mouth, dizziness, and headache, though it won’t address the full hangover on its own. Plain water works, but drinks that contain sodium and potassium (like sports drinks, coconut water, or broth) replace the electrolytes you lost overnight. Pedialyte or similar oral rehydration drinks are a step up because they contain a targeted balance of sodium, potassium, and glucose designed for faster absorption.
Sip steadily rather than chugging large amounts at once, especially if your stomach is already upset. If you’re vomiting and can’t keep fluids down, small frequent sips of something salty are more likely to stay down than a full glass of water.
What to Eat (and Why It Matters)
Eating is one of the most effective things you can do for a hangover, even if food sounds unappealing. Your blood sugar is likely low because alcohol impaired your liver’s ability to produce glucose while you slept. Complex carbohydrates like toast, oatmeal, crackers, or rice provide a steady release of energy without the crash that comes from sugary foods. If your blood sugar is genuinely bottomed out, something containing simple sugars like fruit juice, honey, or a banana can bring it up quickly.
Eggs are a popular hangover food for a reason. They’re rich in an amino acid called L-cysteine, which your body uses to help break down acetaldehyde. A cup of oatmeal provides about 227 mg of L-cysteine, while a serving of meat or fish provides even more. That said, no single food has been proven to cure a hangover. The real benefit of eating is stabilizing blood sugar, settling your stomach, and giving your body fuel to work with while it finishes clearing toxins.
Managing Headache and Nausea
For headache, ibuprofen or naproxen are common choices. However, both are harder on the stomach lining and liver when combined with alcohol, so use the lowest effective dose and take them with food. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is gentler on the stomach but puts additional strain on the liver during alcohol metabolism, which makes it a poor choice while your body is still actively processing last night’s drinks. If your hangover is relatively mild, ibuprofen with food and water is the more practical option for most people.
For nausea, ginger is a well-established natural antiemetic. Ginger tea, ginger chews, or even flat ginger ale can help calm your stomach. Eating bland, starchy food in small amounts also helps by absorbing excess stomach acid. Avoid greasy, heavy meals until the nausea passes, even though the classic “greasy breakfast” gets a lot of cultural credit.
Sleep Is Doing More Than You Think
Even though you may have slept for hours, the quality of that sleep was poor. Alcohol reduces and fragments REM sleep, which is the phase your brain needs most for restoration. The fatigue, brain fog, and irritability you feel the next day are partly a sleep debt, not just a chemical hangover. If your schedule allows it, going back to sleep or napping is one of the most effective recovery strategies available. Your body clears toxins faster at rest, and catching up on REM sleep directly addresses the cognitive sluggishness that water and food can’t fix.
Research on sleep recovery shows that relaxation techniques and simply allowing your body uninterrupted rest improve sleep quality measurably. A dark, cool room and no alarm clock will do more for you than most supplements.
What Doesn’t Work
“Hair of the dog,” or drinking more alcohol in the morning, is one of the most persistent hangover myths. It does temporarily mask symptoms by reintroducing alcohol into your system, but it doesn’t cure anything. As a researcher at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center put it, it just postpones the hangover. The symptoms will return once your body starts processing the new alcohol, and you’ve added to the total toxic load your liver has to clear.
IV hydration bars have become trendy, but IV therapy for hangovers isn’t part of any standard medical protocol. Drinking fluids by mouth is effective for mild to moderate dehydration, and the added vitamins in most IV cocktails haven’t been shown to speed recovery. As for the long list of supplements marketed as hangover cures, including red ginseng, prickly pear, Korean pear juice, artichoke extract, and various vitamin blends, none have been independently replicated in well-designed studies. Some showed minor improvements in individual trials, but the evidence quality was consistently rated very low.
A Practical Recovery Timeline
Hangovers generally last about 24 hours, though the worst of it usually hits in the first 12. Here’s a realistic sequence for getting through it:
- First thing when you wake up: Drink a full glass of water or an electrolyte drink. Eat something bland and starchy, even just a few crackers.
- Within the first hour or two: Take ibuprofen with food if headache is significant. Have ginger tea or ginger chews if nausea is a problem. Go back to sleep if you can.
- Midday: Eat a real meal with protein, complex carbs, and some fruit. Continue drinking fluids steadily. Eggs, oatmeal, toast with honey, or a simple soup with broth are all good choices.
- Afternoon and evening: Symptoms should be fading. Light activity like a walk can help if you’re feeling restless, but avoid intense exercise since you’re still dehydrated and your coordination and reaction time may be off.
People with certain genetic backgrounds, particularly those of East Asian descent, often experience more severe hangovers because they carry a slower-acting version of the enzyme that breaks down acetaldehyde. If you’re someone who gets intense facial flushing and nausea from even moderate drinking, your body is accumulating acetaldehyde faster than it can clear it, and the only reliable strategy is drinking less.