Hangovers 101: Water Cure

Jun 19, 2018

Hey, Reader, you made it! This is the last installment of our series on Hangover Cures, in part because my body can’t take much more overindulgence. But ALSO because I think we have a winner! And, go figure, it is the simplest cure yet (besides just not drinking, but who wants to do that?).

So the secret to morning-after bliss: H2O. Yup, a simple glass– or many glasses– of water. There’s a bit of a catch to this one, because water works best in conjunction with preventative measures. For the best results, you should drink water before you intend to drink alcohol, while you’re drinking alcohol, and when you’ve finished drinking alcohol.

The Science

It doesn’t take rocket-surgery to understand that water is good for you. If you ask my father, it cures literally everything. 

One of the things that alcohol does to your body is dehydrate it. Alcohol is a depressant, and slows many of your body’s functions down, including its ability to produce anti-diuretic hormones. These hormones help your body reabsorb water. But thanks to alcohol, you’re literally pissing that extra water away. You may or may not be also vomiting, at this point, and that doesn’t help you retain water either.

So obviously drinking water is a solid choice for rehydrating your body. I mean, the word “hydrate” is a derivative of “hydrogen,” as in “dihydrogen oxide,” as in “water.” One of the building blocks of life. This is as basic as it gets. 

But Does the Water Hangover Cure Work?

If you do it right, YES. But the secret is that this hangover cure is actually sort of a preventative measure and cure rolled into one. The more on-top of staying hydrated you are, the less hungover you’ll be, and the easier you’ll bounce back to normal after a night of drinking too much. 

Here is the rule of thumb: Shoot for one 8 ounce glass of water per drink, and START with the water.

So a glass of water, then another glass following each drink, and one right before bed. If you find yourself reading along and thinking, “if I’m drinking this much water, there probably won’t be room in my stomach for enough alcohol to get me wasted anyway,” you’re… probably right. Or you’re a quitter. Or maybe a little bit of both. A little discretion and planning ahead never hurt anyone. Just ask a Boy Scout. 

Here’s How it Went Down at Our House…

Our “evening of debauchery” went so smoothly it’s almost not even worth writing about. And I will admit that it was a little bit of a buzzkill to have to pay attention to my water intake. But only a little. We made a game of teasing each other about our water “cocktails,” got a little less drunk than intended, and… still woke up with headaches.

What gives?!?! I guess no method is foolproof, but I am glad to report that with continued rehydration efforts, also known as “more water,” we were both a-okay by lunch time. 

Looking at our scale where 10 is “works like a charm” and 1 is “I feel worse now than ever,” I give this Hangover Cure an 8. It involves a bit of planning and effort, but if you can stick with it, the next day is going to be worth the trouble. Especially if you need to function like an adult human by then. I know I typically do.

And there you have it, folks, with a whopping 8 out of 10 completely made-up points, The Water Hangover Cure takes first prize. 

Have any tried-and-true methods of staving off a hangover? Send them our way!

 

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