From office parties to family gatherings and New Year’s Eve celebrations, the holiday season is often a time for overindulging — and for waking up the next morning scrambling for a hangover fix.
While social media can be chock-full of supposed cures — from greasy breakfasts and “hair of the dog” cocktails to sweat-it-out exercises — experts say most hangover remedies don’t address how the body actually processes alcohol.
“Most hangover ‘cures’ fail because they treat the liver like a sponge rather than a chemical processing plant that it is,” Dr. Hillary Lin, a New York City physician, told Fox News Digital.
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A hangover is your body’s response to the buildup of harmful byproducts as it clears alcohol from your system, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The reality, experts say, is that there is no instant fix.
“You can’t biohack a hangover once it starts,” Lin said.
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Having some “hair of the dog that bit you” — or drinking more alcohol to relieve a hangover — only “kicks the can down the road,” Lin said.
While it may dull symptoms briefly, it gives the liver more work to do, said Alexa Ryan, a California neurotherapist and clinical dietitian nutritionist.
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“It doesn’t address the underlying dehydration, inflammation or toxic alcohol byproducts,” she said.
Adding other substances can make matters worse, according to Ian Anderson, co-founder of Sunnyside, a mindful drinking app.
“Tobacco smoking can increase the severity of your hangover, and using alcohol with cannabis may lead to even poorer memory, focus and cognitive function,” said Anderson, who is based in California.
A heavy breakfast will just sit in an already irritated stomach and slow down digestion, Lin said.
“By the time you wake up, the alcohol has long since left your stomach,” she said. “There is literally nothing left to ‘soak up.'”
Experts agree it’s best to prioritize eating before drinking in order to slow the absorption rate of alcohol into your bloodstream.
“The idea of soaking up alcohol only applies before or during drinking,” Ryan added.
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Certain foods may support hangover recovery, including eggs, water-rich fruits, bananas and nuts — though experts warn that evidence is limited.
Many people reach for coffee or lemon water, hoping to flush out alcohol, but detoxification doesn’t work that way, experts say.
“By the time you wake up with a hangover, alcohol has already disrupted sleep, irritated the stomach lining, altered blood sugar regulation and been metabolized into acetaldehyde, a toxic compound that drives most hangover symptoms,” Ryan said. “Coffee and lemon juice don’t accelerate alcohol metabolism.”
Anderson added that coffee can slow down rehydration and increase blood pressure.
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“This can worsen a headache and leave you more dehydrated, anxious and jittery than before,” he said. “Plain water is your best friend when you’ve overindulged.”
Not all patches or supplements are created equal when it comes to hangovers, and experts caution that most products act too late to make a meaningful difference.
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Some emerging probiotics, however, work differently from typical hangover remedies, Lin noted. Rather than trying to support the liver after alcohol is already absorbed, they’re designed to break down acetaldehyde in the gut before it enters the bloodstream.
Otherwise, Lin recommends drinking a high-quality electrolyte mix before bed.
Alcohol is broken down by the liver at a steady pace, meaning exercise can’t speed up how quickly your body clears it, experts say.
“You can’t sweat out alcohol. Your liver has to metabolize it,” Ryan said.
“Exercising while you’re hung over can worsen dehydration, increase dizziness or nausea, and place extra strain on the body. Anything that adds more stress to the body usually backfires.”
Despite countless claims, experts say there is simply no proven cure-all.
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The most effective approach, Anderson said, is drinking less and avoiding binge-drinking — which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines as having five or more standard drinks on a single occasion for men and four for women.
“A really successful tip to limit hangovers is to alternate each drink with water and/or non-alcoholic drinks,” he added.
Nonetheless, health experts say no amount of alcohol is completely safe — and even low levels increase the risk of cancer.
But when it’s too late, recovery requires rest, hydration and time.
“Prioritizing fluids with electrolytes, eating a small, balanced meal, getting rest and allowing time for the liver to complete detoxification are most effective,” Ryan said.
