Water is the obvious starting point, but it’s not the whole answer. A hangover involves dehydration, electrolyte shifts, inflammation, and your liver working overtime to process alcohol’s byproducts. The best drinks address several of these problems at once, and some popular choices work better than others.
Why Water Alone Isn’t Enough
Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it makes your kidneys produce more urine than the volume of liquid you took in. Roughly 100 ml of extra urine is produced for every 10 grams of alcohol consumed, which means a few drinks can leave you significantly short on fluids by morning. But here’s the catch: a recent review of the evidence found that drinking water during or after alcohol consumption had only a modest effect on preventing next-day hangover symptoms, and drinking water during the hangover itself didn’t meaningfully reduce severity. Dehydration and hangover are two co-occurring but largely independent consequences of drinking.
That doesn’t mean hydration is pointless. Replacing lost fluid will help with thirst, dry mouth, and that general wrecked feeling. But it does mean you should think beyond plain water and look for drinks that tackle inflammation, replenish minerals, or support your liver.
Electrolyte Drinks: What Actually Works
Your body loses sodium, potassium, and chloride through all that extra urination. Replacing those electrolytes helps your cells absorb and retain fluid more effectively than water alone. But not all electrolyte drinks are created equal.
Oral rehydration solutions like Pedialyte contain two to three times more electrolytes and about 25 to 50 percent less sugar than standard sports drinks. That matters because excess sugar slows fluid absorption in your gut and can further irritate an already sensitive stomach. Sports drinks are designed to fuel athletic performance with quick energy, not to rehydrate a hungover body. Pedialyte and similar products prioritize sodium and potassium, which gets fluid into your bloodstream faster.
If you don’t have a rehydration solution on hand, you can make a simple version: a pinch of salt and a small squeeze of lemon or orange juice in a glass of water. The goal is some sodium and a little glucose, not a sugary cocktail.
Coconut Water
Coconut water is a strong natural option. A single cup of store-bought coconut water delivers about 470 mg of potassium and 30 mg of sodium. That potassium content is significantly higher than what you’d get from most sports drinks, and potassium is one of the minerals your body loses after a night of drinking. The taste is mild enough that it’s easy to get down when your stomach is fragile, and the sugar content is moderate. It won’t replace a proper electrolyte drink for sodium, but it’s an excellent complement to one.
Tomato Juice and Broth
There’s a reason the Bloody Mary (minus the vodka) is a classic hangover remedy. Tomato juice provides potassium, sodium, and water in one package. It also contains lycopene, a compound that helps protect liver cells from alcohol-related damage by suppressing an enzyme involved in processing alcohol’s toxic byproducts. You won’t undo last night’s damage with a glass of tomato juice, but you’re giving your liver a small assist while rehydrating.
Bone broth or any clear soup broth works on a similar principle. It’s warm, easy on the stomach, loaded with sodium, and contains amino acids that support recovery. If you’re too nauseated to eat solid food, sipping broth is one of the best ways to get salt, fluid, and a few calories into your system simultaneously.
Coffee and Tea: A Mixed Bag
Coffee is many people’s first instinct, and it can help with one specific hangover symptom: the headache. Caffeine constricts blood vessels, which counteracts the swelling that contributes to that pounding feeling in your head. Research confirms that caffeine acutely decreases blood flow velocity in cerebral arteries, which is exactly the mechanism that provides headache relief.
The downsides are real, though. Coffee is mildly diuretic, so it can worsen dehydration if you’re not drinking water alongside it. It also stimulates stomach acid production, which is the last thing you need if you’re already nauseated. If you’re a regular coffee drinker and skipping it would give you a withdrawal headache on top of the hangover, a small cup makes sense. Just pair it with water or an electrolyte drink.
Green tea is a gentler alternative. It contains less caffeine, so you still get mild headache relief without as much stomach irritation. Green tea also contains an amino acid called L-theanine, which promotes relaxation and has been shown to protect liver cells from alcohol-induced damage. In animal studies, L-theanine restored the liver’s antioxidant defenses after alcohol exposure and reduced markers of liver injury. It also helps take the edge off the jittery, anxious feeling that often accompanies a hangover.
What to Avoid
Sugary sodas, energy drinks, and fruit juices with added sugar will spike your blood sugar and then crash it, leaving you feeling worse. The high sugar content also slows fluid absorption in your intestines. Diet sodas aren’t much better since carbonation can aggravate nausea.
“Hair of the dog,” or drinking more alcohol, delays the hangover rather than treating it. Your liver is already behind on processing last night’s alcohol. Adding more simply pushes the timeline back and increases the total burden on your body.
A Practical Hangover Drink Plan
When you wake up feeling rough, start with a full glass of water to address the immediate fluid deficit. Follow it within 30 minutes with an electrolyte-rich drink: Pedialyte, a rehydration sachet, or coconut water. Sip rather than chug, especially if your stomach is unsettled. Drinking too fast when nauseated often triggers vomiting, which makes dehydration worse.
Once your stomach settles, introduce something with nutrients. Tomato juice, broth, or green tea all serve double duty by hydrating you and providing compounds that support recovery. If you need caffeine, keep it to one small coffee and match it with an equal volume of water.
Throughout the day, aim to drink steadily rather than in large bursts. Your intestines can only absorb about 200 to 400 ml of fluid per hour efficiently, so spacing it out matters more than total volume. Adding a pinch of salt to your water or snacking on something salty helps your body hold onto the fluid rather than sending it straight through.
Prickly Pear: An Unexpected Option
One supplement with actual clinical evidence behind it is prickly pear extract, derived from the Opuntia ficus indica cactus. A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that taking prickly pear extract before drinking reduced the overall hangover severity index by 18%, with significant improvements in nausea and dry mouth specifically. It works by reducing inflammation rather than addressing dehydration. Prickly pear juice or supplements are available at most health food stores, though the evidence is strongest for taking it before you drink rather than the morning after.