Ginger is one of the most effective options for hangover nausea, and you can start with it right away in capsule, tea, or chewable form. Beyond ginger, a combination of rehydration, the right over-the-counter stomach medications, and bland foods will get most people feeling functional again within a few hours. Here’s what actually works and what to avoid.
Ginger for Nausea Relief
Ginger has the strongest track record of any natural remedy for nausea. It works by blocking serotonin receptors in both the gut and the brain, which are the same pathways that trigger the urge to vomit. Most clinical research uses 250 mg to 1 g of powdered ginger root in capsule form, taken one to four times daily. If you don’t have capsules on hand, ginger tea or ginger chews work too. Flat ginger ale is a common suggestion, but most brands contain very little actual ginger, so it’s more placebo than treatment.
Over-the-Counter Stomach Medications
Bismuth subsalicylate (the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol) treats nausea, indigestion, and heartburn. The standard dose for adults is two tablets or two tablespoons of liquid every 30 minutes to an hour as needed, up to 16 tablets or 16 tablespoons of regular-strength liquid in 24 hours. It coats the stomach lining and reduces irritation, which makes it a solid choice when alcohol has left your stomach feeling raw.
If your nausea comes with acid reflux or a burning feeling in your chest or throat, antacids like calcium carbonate (Tums) can neutralize stomach acid quickly. For longer-lasting acid control, an H2 blocker like famotidine (Pepcid) reduces acid production for several hours. Alcohol increases stomach acid output, so these can target a major source of the problem.
Rehydration That Settles Your Stomach
Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it pulls water and electrolytes out of your body faster than normal. Dehydration alone can cause nausea, so replacing fluids is essential. Plain water helps, but adding electrolytes speeds recovery because your gut absorbs fluid more efficiently when sodium and glucose are present together.
You can buy electrolyte drinks or make a simple rehydration solution at home: four cups of water, half a teaspoon of table salt, and two tablespoons of sugar. Sip slowly. Drinking too fast when you’re already nauseated can make things worse. If the taste is hard to get down, mixing half a teaspoon of salt into 32 ounces of a low-sugar sports drink like Gatorade G2 works as well.
What to Eat (and What to Skip)
Eating might be the last thing you want to do, but getting some bland food into your stomach helps absorb excess acid and stabilize your blood sugar. Stick to simple, low-fat, low-fiber options: plain toast or crackers made with white flour, bananas, applesauce, plain rice, broth-based soup, eggs, or potatoes. These are easy to digest and unlikely to make nausea worse.
Eat small amounts at a time rather than a full meal, and chew slowly. Avoid anything fried, greasy, spicy, or heavily seasoned. Skip raw vegetables, fatty dairy, and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli or cabbage, all of which can increase gas and stomach discomfort. Coffee and more alcohol (the “hair of the dog” approach) both irritate the stomach lining further.
What About Vitamins and Supplements?
You’ll see B vitamins and vitamin C marketed in hangover recovery products. The theory is that these support your liver’s ability to break down acetaldehyde, the toxic byproduct your body creates when it processes alcohol. In practice, the evidence is thin. A double-blind trial testing a supplement containing B1, B6, vitamin C, and the amino acid L-cysteine found no significant improvement in nausea compared to placebo. Nausea scores were actually slightly higher in the supplement group, though the difference wasn’t statistically meaningful.
Prickly pear extract is one supplement with more interesting results. In a study published in The Archives of Internal Medicine, participants who took prickly pear fruit extract five hours before drinking had significantly less nausea, dry mouth, and appetite loss the next day compared to a placebo group. The extract appeared to reduce C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation, suggesting it works by dampening the inflammatory response alcohol triggers. The catch: you need to take it before drinking, so it’s more of a prevention tool than a morning-after fix.
Avoid Acetaminophen If You Drink Heavily
When your head is pounding alongside the nausea, reaching for pain relief is natural. But be cautious with acetaminophen (Tylenol). Both acetaminophen and alcohol are processed by your liver, and both rely on the same protective substance, glutathione, to neutralize their toxic byproducts. Chronic heavy drinking depletes glutathione stores, which means acetaminophen’s toxic metabolite can build up and damage liver cells.
For occasional drinkers, a normal dose of acetaminophen (up to 1,000 mg over four to six hours, no more than 4,000 mg in a day) after a night out is generally fine, according to Cleveland Clinic guidance. But if you drink regularly or heavily, keep acetaminophen doses under 2,000 mg per day, or switch to an NSAID like ibuprofen instead. If you have any history of liver disease, avoid acetaminophen entirely after drinking. NSAIDs do carry their own risk of stomach irritation, so take them with food.
When Nausea May Signal Something Worse
Normal hangover nausea is unpleasant but not dangerous. It typically peaks in the morning and fades over the course of the day. Alcohol poisoning is a different situation entirely and requires emergency care. The warning signs include vomiting that won’t stop, mental confusion, difficulty staying conscious, seizures, slow or irregular breathing, clammy skin, extremely low body temperature, and a lack of gag reflex. If someone is showing these symptoms, especially if they’re unconscious and vomiting, call 911 immediately. The brain areas that control breathing and heart rate can shut down when blood alcohol levels are dangerously high.