How to Get Rid of a Hangover

Before Drinking

1. 1
   Drink water. Before heading to a party, drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated and to dilute the alcohol you will be drinking.
   
   
2. 2
   Eat something that contains a lot of fat. Fat is better than carbohydrates when it comes to slowing your body's absorption of alcohol. Go for steak, sausage, fried foods or pizza before you head to a party. ^[1]
   
   
   • The fat sits in your body for at least 12 hours and greases the lining of your intestines, which makes the body absorb alcohol slower. ^[1]
3. 3
   Space the drinks. Have a glass of water or a non-alcoholic beverage between each drink to dilute the alcohol in your body. The reason men typically can handle more alcohol than women is because they have a higher percentage of water in their bodies.
   
   
4. 4
   Stick to lighter alcohol. To mitigate the effects of hangovers, choose beer and clear liquors (for example,, vodka or gin). Malt/dark liquors (e.g. whiskey or rum) tend to produce headaches, and red wine contains tannins which do the same.
   
   

The Morning After

1. 1
   Take a non-acetaminophen over-the-counter painkiller like aspirin or ibuprofen.^[1] Painkillers' effects peak at about four hours, so the effect of taking a painkiller before bed will be gone by the next morning (when your hangover strikes).
   
   
   • Alcohol disrupts how the liver processes acetaminophen, so taking that may lead to liver inflammation and permanent damage. ^[1]
2. 2
   Drink plenty of water and electrolyte-replenishing sports drinks the next morning. This will help ease any symptoms of dehydration, which often goes hand in hand with a hangover.^[2]
   
   
   • The processes that break down alcohol also produce lactic acid and other chemicals that interfere with the production of glucose (sugar) and electrolytes; that's why sports drinks are a good idea.^[3] Don't drink caffeinated beverages - those make you urinate more, too.
3. 3
   Eat burnt toast. Carbon in the burnt part helps filter impurities, which is why people hospitalized for alcohol poisoning get a potent carbon slurry pumped into their stomachs.^[1]
   
   
4. 4
   Eat bland foods like toast and crackers. It's not to "absorb" the alcohol (which is what most people think). It's to boost your blood sugar.^[4]
   
   
   • Alcohol prevents your body from maintaining normal blood sugar concentration, and low blood sugar leads to fatigue and weakness^[5]).
   • Complex carbohydrates (cereal, bread) are good choices.^[2]
5. 5
   Have bouillon soup to restore salt and potassium. Potassium is needed for nerve and muscle function and you lose a lot through urination after drinking alcohol.^[6] A banana, avocado, potato chips or glass of orange juice will also help restore potassium.^[6]
   
   
6. 6
   Have food or drinks that contain fructose to help you burn the alcohol faster. Eating fruits and drinking fruit juice might make you feel better.^[4] A 1976 study suggests, however, that while fructose eases the metabolic effects of alcohol, it might not ease the symptoms of a hangover.^[7]
   
   
7. 7
   Make a bacon sandwich. The bread will raise your blood sugar, and the protein in bacon breaks down to amino acids to help replenish brain neurotransmitters that were depleted by the alcohol.^[8][9]
   
   
8. 8
   Be happy. A 1997 study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) suggests that guilt about drinking, a neurotic personality, becoming angry or depressed while drinking, and having suffered "negative life events" in the past 12 months are better predictors of symptoms of hangover than how much or what you drink!^[10]
   
   

Edit Myths About Hangover Remedies

• The order in which you drink alcoholic beverages doesn't determine magnitude of the hangover, but rather it's the type that you drink. ^[1]
• Diet drinks will not help mitigate hangovers. ^[1]
• A wake-up cocktail will only delay, not prevent, your hangover. Avoid the screwdriver in the morning. ^[1]
• Hangover pills made from natural ingredients like yeast and artichoke extract do very little to mitigate hangovers. A supplement made from prickly pear cactus may solve dry mouth and nausea issues, but not the awful headache. ^[1]
• One of the main causes of nausea during a hangover is not just because of the alcohol itself (myth), a good portion of it is the low blood sugar ( liver using up all available glucose to process the alcohol) and the increased stomach acid production ( especially if you drank red wine).
• Over the counter anti-nausea remedies that contain phosphorus and fructose can help correct the blood sugar problem and decrease the irritation from the stomach acid.