Some people may even have a genetic disposition for worse hangovers than others. Hangovers tend to go away on their own, even if you don’t do anything. As your body readjusts to the lack of alcohol, you start to feel better. Make sure to get lots of vitamins and antioxidants in your next-day diet, which are crucial to helping your body process and get rid of toxins. For some, being selective about what type of alcohol they drink might help. Here’s what experts recommend, from hydration to extra sleep.
Vitamins & Supplements
For almost as long as humans have had hangovers, we’ve tried to cure them with remedies that run the gamut, from vitamin B to pickle juice. Some hangover treatments work better than others, but none are an actual cure. The only way to avoid a hangover is to limit how much you drink or to not drink alcohol at all. And if you find that hangovers are affecting your work or relationships, talk to your doctor about your drinking.
Health Products
All of this makes it very difficult to pin down an actual standardized hangover level. Previously, research noted 0.11% BAC was considered the “toxicological threshold,” meaning that sufficient alcohol had been consumed at that percentage point to develop a hangover. But recent research shows that “subjective intoxication” (in other words, the individual degree of reported drunkenness), and not BAC, is the most important determinant of hangover severity. Different people have different abilities to metabolize alcohol, which may affect their hangover sensitivity. Sometimes an individual’s tolerance may even change daily, based on factors like illness or hormones.
Give it time
Though other chemicals in your drink – or drinks – of choice contribute to your hangover, alcohol is the primary culprit. Despite how how long does a hangover last often hangovers happen, little research exists to explain exactly why. Here’s what we do know about alcohol’s effects on the body and how it may bring on a hangover. Everyone has had a night where they drank a little too much and woke up the next morning with a headache and a whole lot of regrets.
Drinking plenty of water
However, never use acetaminophen to treat a hangover, and avoid NSAIDs if you’re experiencing digestive symptoms such as nausea or stomach pain. Staying hydrated while drinking alcohol could help to prevent or reduce a hangover. People can try drinking a glass of water between alcoholic drinks and just before bed. You drank too much last night, and now you feel it all over your body. It can be tempting to try quick hangover remedies, like a shower, coffee or greasy breakfast. But the best hangover cure is to wait it out and drink lots of water.
Take an easy walk.
- But if you still wind up with a hangover, there are remedies.
- While most of the data is based on small sample sizes or animal subjects, taking red ginseng as you consume alcohol has shown promise for hangover relief.
- Typically, your symptoms are the worst when your blood alcohol level returns to zero.
- The same goes for coffee, which is acidic and could exacerbate your tummy troubles.
The association depends on individual and situational factors, including sleep, hydration, and the pacing of alcoholic drinks. Over-the-counter pain medications can help when you suffer from headaches or nausea. However, avoid acetaminophen (Tylenol), which can cause liver damage when combined with alcohol. The same goes for coffee, which is acidic and could exacerbate your tummy troubles. And like alcohol, coffee is a diuretic, so it’s not going to help your hydration game. The caffeine may provide a quick perk, but coffee could likely make your hangover symptoms worse.
- First, alcohol has a diuretic effect, meaning that it increases the production of urine.
- You likely want to know how to cure a hangover fast, but there’s only so much you can do to shorten how long you feel the symptoms of one.
Also known as a cactus pear, tuna fruit, or sabras, prickly pears are a sweet fruit that are quick and easy to snack on. Losing water and electrolytes like potassium and sodium through urine can cause an electrolyte imbalance. Staying hydrated (preferably with some electrolytes, such as an oral rehydration solution) helps replenish your body. Ginger contains natural antioxidants—many of which are thought to help control the oxidative stress induced by alcohol.
How to Cure a Hangover Fast
Dark drinks, such as red wine, brandy or whisky, are packed with congeners while there are fewer in light drinks, such as white wine and vodka. Lynch says that thinking ahead could help prevent hangovers. Eating and drinking water in addition to alcoholic beverages can soften the blow. The best way to prevent a hangover is to avoid drinking more alcohol than your body can tolerate. There is no magic hangover “cure,” but there are some remedies that can help alleviate your symptoms.