Water won’t cure your hangover, but this might

If you’ve ever experienced a particularly bad hangover — or taken care of someone with one — drinking water was probably your top remedy.

Wrong move. According to molecular biologist Patrick Schmitt, this popular solution is a total myth. Although the body excretes more water when we’re inebriated, the hangover that follows has little to do with dehydration.

“It’s a misconception that drinking water helps you avoid a hangover,” Schmitt told Business Insider.

What’s the actual cause of a hangover?

Hangovers are basically a series of symptoms that occur as a consequence of excessive alcohol consumption. How severe a hangover is is primarily based on one’s tolerance, but the most commonly cited symptoms are headaches, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, and dizziness.

The onset of these symptoms begins as our blood alcohol level declines, causing our bodies to experience a brief withdrawal phase. In addition, chemical byproducts, called congeners (which you’ll get more of in darker liquors like bourbon, brandy, whiskey, red wine, and dark-colored beers), are toxic to the human body. Congeners can irritate the stomach lining, cause the muscles of the lower esophagus to relax, and depress the activity of brain cells. This is why we experience dizziness and acid reflux when we’re hungover. Alcohol also lowers our blood sugar, which can cause migraines after a night of throwing them back. A lot of alcohol dehydrates, as well.

But, obviously, getting drunk also makes you behave differently. While we’re drinking, we’re more likely to eat unhealthy foods, skip meals, and forgo deep sleep.

“Getting enough sleep after a night of drinking can also help mitigate symptoms such as fatigue and headache, given the disruption of sleep caused by the alcohol,” said Dr. Yul Ejnes, former chairman of the board of the American College of Physicians. “You should also try to eat a meal before you hit the bar so your body doesn’t absorb the alcohol as quickly as it would on an empty stomach.”

It’s widely believed that hangovers are caused by acute dehydration because a study conducted in 1950 discovered how alcohol makes us excrete fluids at a rapid rate.

“The wrong conclusions were drawn from these results,” Schmitt said. “It was thought that, as the body was excreting more water, it would therefore become dehydrated — and this was simply accepted as a conclusive explanation for why we get hangovers.”

Scientific ways to prevent a hangover

Outside of not drinking excessively, the best ways to prevent a hangover come down to addressing the root cause of each individual hangover symptom.

If you drink slowly over the course of a night, your body will metabolize the toxic chemical byproducts of alcohol much slower than usual, which can reduce the severity of the effects the following day. Boost your blood sugar with carbs and sugars, like honey on toast. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep after a night of drinking.

Staying hydrated can help while you are drinking booze, but doing so the following day will be too late.

“At most, it might alleviate the symptoms of having a dry mouth from drinking and cigarettes — but obviously I’m not going to tell anyone not to drink water if they think it makes them feel better,” Schmitt said. “You can tell yourself your hangover will be less painful if you drink water with every glass of wine, but that won’t make it true.”

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