Water is the single best thing to drink when you’re drunk. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it pulls fluid out of your body faster than normal, and much of what you’re feeling (the headache building, the dizziness, the dry mouth) ties directly back to dehydration. But water isn’t the only helpful option, and some popular choices, like coffee, can actually work against you.
Water First, and How Much
The standard recommendation is 8 to 12 ounces of water for every alcoholic drink you’ve had. If you’ve lost count, just start drinking water steadily. Sip rather than chug. Downing a huge amount at once on an already irritated stomach can trigger nausea. Keep a glass or bottle nearby and take consistent sips over the next hour or two.
Room temperature or slightly cool water tends to be gentler on your stomach than ice-cold water. If plain water feels hard to keep down, adding a small squeeze of lemon or lime can make it more palatable without adding anything that will upset your gut further.
Electrolyte Drinks for Faster Recovery
Water replaces fluid, but alcohol also depletes electrolytes, the minerals your body uses to maintain fluid balance, muscle function, and nerve signaling. A sports drink or electrolyte solution puts back sodium, potassium, and magnesium alongside the water.
Coconut water is a strong option here. A single cup contains about 404 mg of potassium (roughly ten times the amount in a cup of a typical sports drink), plus meaningful amounts of calcium and magnesium. It also has only 4 grams of sugar per cup compared to 13 grams in the same amount of a sports drink, which matters when your stomach is already unhappy. Sports drinks like Gatorade do contain more sodium (97 mg versus 64 mg per cup), which helps with water retention. Either works well. If you have both available, coconut water edges ahead on overall mineral content with less sugar.
Pedialyte and similar oral rehydration solutions are another solid choice. They’re designed for rapid rehydration and contain a balanced ratio of sodium and glucose that helps your intestines absorb water more efficiently.
Fruit Juice Can Help More Than You’d Think
Fruit juice does two useful things at once. First, it provides fluid and some electrolytes. Second, the natural fructose in juice may actually help your body clear alcohol from your bloodstream faster. Research published in the Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health found that fructose increased blood alcohol clearance rates by roughly 67% in men and 92% in women, while reducing the total time participants felt intoxicated by about 40%.
The mechanism appears to involve your liver. Fructose metabolism generates a compound your liver needs to keep breaking down alcohol. When that compound is in short supply, alcohol processing slows down. Fructose essentially restocks it.
Apple juice, orange juice, or grape juice all work. Go with whatever sounds most tolerable to your stomach right now. If citrus feels too acidic, apple juice is the gentlest option.
Ginger Tea for Nausea
If nausea is your main problem, ginger tea is one of the most effective non-pharmaceutical options. Ginger speeds up stomach emptying, reduces intestinal cramping, and decreases pressure in the digestive tract. All of these effects directly counter the queasy, bloated feeling alcohol causes. Steep fresh ginger slices in hot water for five to ten minutes, or use a ginger tea bag. Drink it warm, not scalding. You can also add a small amount of honey, which provides a bit of sugar to help stabilize your energy.
Why Coffee Is a Bad Idea
Reaching for coffee when you’re drunk feels logical: you want to sober up, and caffeine makes you alert. But according to the CDC, caffeine does not reduce the effects of alcohol on your body. It masks them. You feel more awake and more capable, but your coordination, reaction time, and judgment remain just as impaired.
This creates a genuinely dangerous situation. Feeling alert while still drunk can lead you to drink more, drive when you shouldn’t, or misjudge your condition. Coffee is also a mild diuretic and a stomach irritant, both of which compound problems alcohol already started. Skip it until you’re sober and hydrated.
Other Drinks to Avoid Right Now
Carbonated beverages are worth skipping, even carbonated water. Carbonation increases the pressure in your stomach and small intestine, which forces alcohol to absorb into your bloodstream faster. If you’ve recently had your last drink and alcohol is still being absorbed, a fizzy drink can push your blood alcohol level higher than it would otherwise go. Flat water, juice, or an electrolyte drink are better choices.
Avoid more alcohol. “Hair of the dog” delays the inevitable and adds to the total damage your liver and stomach lining are processing. Energy drinks combine caffeine and carbonation, making them doubly counterproductive. And highly acidic drinks like straight lemon juice or tomato juice can further irritate a stomach lining that alcohol has already inflamed.
A Simple Drinking Plan
If you’re reading this while drunk and want a straightforward plan: start with a full glass of water right now. Follow it 15 to 20 minutes later with a glass of coconut water, a sports drink, or diluted fruit juice. If your stomach is churning, brew ginger tea or slowly sip flat ginger ale (let it go flat first by stirring out the carbonation). Before you go to sleep, drink another full glass of water and place one by your bed for when you wake up.
Your body clears alcohol at a fixed rate, roughly one standard drink per hour, and no beverage will dramatically speed that up. What these drinks do is manage the collateral damage: dehydration, electrolyte loss, low blood sugar, and stomach irritation. Addressing those makes the difference between a rough few hours and a miserable next day.