No single remedy has been proven to cure a hangover. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials found no compelling evidence that any conventional or complementary treatment reliably prevents or treats hangover symptoms. That said, understanding what’s actually happening in your body can help you manage the misery more effectively and recover faster.
Why Hangovers Happen
A hangover isn’t just dehydration, though that’s part of it. The bigger driver is inflammation. When your body breaks down alcohol, the process generates reactive byproducts that your immune system treats as foreign invaders. This triggers the release of inflammatory signaling molecules, and their levels in your blood correlate directly with how terrible you feel the next morning. The higher the inflammation during the hangover window, the worse your symptoms.
Alcohol also disrupts your blood sugar. It can cause levels to drop low enough to leave you feeling exhausted, weak, shaky, and irritable. On top of that, alcohol suppresses a hormone that helps your kidneys retain water, so you lose fluid faster than normal. The headache, nausea, fatigue, and brain fog you experience are the combined result of dehydration, low blood sugar, and a body-wide inflammatory response.
What Actually Helps
Since no magic bullet exists, the best approach is to address each of these mechanisms individually.
Water and electrolytes. You’ve lost more fluid and minerals than usual. Drinking water steadily throughout the morning helps, but adding electrolytes (from a sports drink, oral rehydration solution, or even broth) replaces the sodium and potassium your body flushed out overnight. Don’t chug a liter all at once if you’re nauseous. Sip consistently.
Food with protein and carbohydrates. Eating helps restore blood sugar, which addresses the weakness and shakiness. Eggs are a particularly good choice: they’re rich in an amino acid called L-cysteine, which can bind directly to one of the toxic byproducts of alcohol metabolism and neutralize it. Toast, bananas, or oatmeal alongside protein give your body the carbohydrates it needs to stabilize blood sugar.
Anti-inflammatory pain relievers. Ibuprofen or aspirin can help with headache and body aches because they target the inflammatory process driving many hangover symptoms. One critical warning: avoid acetaminophen (Tylenol) after heavy drinking. Alcohol depletes a key substance in your liver that’s needed to safely process acetaminophen, and combining the two can cause serious liver damage.
Sleep. Alcohol fragments your sleep architecture, reducing the restorative deep sleep your brain needs. If you can sleep in or nap, do it. Much of hangover recovery is simply giving your body time to clear the inflammatory byproducts still circulating in your blood.
Caffeine, carefully. Coffee can help with the grogginess and headache, since caffeine constricts blood vessels that dilated during drinking. But it’s also a mild diuretic, so pair it with extra water.
Supplements and Remedies: What the Evidence Shows
The supplement market for hangover cures is enormous, but the science is thin. Dihydromyricetin (DHM), derived from the Japanese raisin tree, was the most popular hangover supplement in the U.S. as of 2019. A double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial found it had no significant effect on hangover severity. It remains popular despite this.
Red ginseng has slightly more promising results. A crossover study in healthy men found it reduced plasma alcohol levels and hangover severity scores, likely by slowing the rate at which the stomach empties alcohol into the bloodstream. The practical effect is modest, and it works better as a preventive measure taken alongside drinking rather than a morning-after cure.
A systematic review of eight randomized controlled trials tested everything from prickly pear extract to artichoke supplements to yeast-based preparations. Only a few showed any significant difference from placebo for individual symptoms, and none worked convincingly across the board. The researchers’ blunt conclusion: the most effective strategy is drinking less.
Why “Hair of the Dog” Backfires
Drinking more alcohol the next morning can temporarily dull hangover symptoms because ethanol crosses into the brain easily and, in effect, numbs the discomfort. But this doesn’t address the underlying inflammation. It just delays it. Your body still has to process the original alcohol plus whatever you’ve added, which means more inflammatory byproducts, more immune activation, and ultimately a worse or prolonged hangover. It also sets up a pattern that can drift toward dependence over time.
What You Drink Matters
Not all alcoholic drinks produce equally bad hangovers. Darker spirits contain higher levels of congeners, which are chemical byproducts of fermentation that worsen hangover symptoms. Bourbon drinkers report significantly more severe hangovers than vodka drinkers at the same blood alcohol level. Red wine and brandy also have high congener concentrations, while beer and vodka sit at the low end. Choosing lighter-colored drinks won’t prevent a hangover, but it can reduce the severity if you’re drinking the same total amount of alcohol.
Prevention Works Better Than Any Cure
Since nothing reliably cures a hangover once it’s started, prevention is where you get the most return. Eating a substantial meal before drinking slows alcohol absorption. Alternating each alcoholic drink with a glass of water reduces total alcohol intake and limits dehydration. Sticking to lighter-colored beverages lowers your congener load. And pacing yourself matters more than anything: hangover severity correlates directly with how high your blood alcohol concentration gets, so fewer drinks over more hours makes a measurable difference.
If you’re already in the thick of it, the honest prescription is water, food, ibuprofen, and time. Your body will clear the inflammation on its own. Everything else is just making the wait more comfortable.