What actually helps a hangover?
Drinking less, and not much else. A 2005 review of eight trials found no remedy with convincing evidence. Water during the evening helped only a little in later surveys, and water drunk during the hangover didn’t change it.
Hangover cures are everywhere: electrolyte packets, greasy breakfasts, pills, IV drips, one more drink in the morning. A lot of them are built on a popular theory, that a hangover is dehydration. People do get thirsty after drinking, but a 2024 review found the hangover and the dehydration happen side by side and separately, and the dehydration is usually mild and short.
What we’d do
Eat first, count the pour and stop earlier. If you do one thing during the evening, slow down, since how drunk people felt was one of the strongest predictors of the worst hangovers in a trial of 90 people. Have water because it’s good for you and your night, and don’t count on it to prevent the morning.
When does a hangover start?
A hangover is the bill that comes after the meal. It starts as the alcohol in your blood gets close to zero, according to the 2024 review, which is why it hits the morning after rather than during the night.
What’s been tested
In 2005, researchers at Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, England, looked for every randomized trial of a hangover remedy. They found eight trials of eight different things: propranolol, tropisetron, tolfenamic acid, fructose or glucose, borage, artichoke, prickly pear and a yeast preparation. Three showed some difference in single small trials (tolfenamic acid, borage oil and the yeast preparation). None had convincing evidence, and the authors wrote that the best way to avoid a hangover is to drink nothing or drink in moderation. The review is from 2005, so newer products weren’t in it.
| What people try | What the studies found |
|---|---|
| Water during the evening | A small effect on the next day’s hangover |
| Water during the hangover | No change |
| Beer before wine, or wine before beer | No difference |
| Clear drinks instead of dark | Felt a little better after vodka than bourbon, same hit to sleep and focus |
| Drinking less | How drunk people got predicted the worst hangovers |
The drink-order trial
In a 2019 trial in Germany, 90 people aged 19 to 40 drank beer then wine, wine then beer, or only one of them, until they reached a set breath level. A week or more later they switched. Neither the order nor the type of drink changed how bad the hangover was. Feeling drunk and vomiting were the strongest predictors.
In a 2010 study, 95 young heavy drinkers drank either bourbon or vodka to the same level. They felt worse after bourbon, but their sleep and their next-day attention took the same hit either way.
What your watch sees
In 20,968 WHOOP members, nights logged as well hydrated after five drinks more than usual came with a sleeping heart rate only 0.3 beats lower and HRV 0.9 ms higher than other nights after the same drinks. Sleeping longer did much more, 2.9 beats and 7.2 ms. WHOOP paid for that study.
5 sources
- Pittler MH, Verster JC, Ernst E, Interventions for preventing or treating alcohol hangover: systematic review of randomised controlled trials, BMJ, 2005pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Mackus M and others, Alcohol hangover versus dehydration revisited: the effect of drinking water to prevent or alleviate the alcohol hangover, Alcohol, 2024pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Köchling J and others, Grape or grain but never the twain? A randomized controlled multiarm matched-triplet crossover trial of beer and wine, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2019pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Rohsenow DJ and others, Intoxication with bourbon versus vodka: effects on hangover, sleep, and next-day neurocognitive performance in young adults, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2010pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Grosicki GJ and others, Real-world effects of alcohol on heart rate, sleep, and physical activity by age and sex, PLOS Digital Health, 2026 (funded by WHOOP)pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
