Hangover Hacks: Do They Actually Work?

Hangovers hit like a freight train, with a pounding head, churning stomach, and brain fog that can make even coffee repulsive, so most people have their tried and true hangover remedies. 

With a billion "recovery" industry peddling Liquid IV drips, Flyby pills, and viral TikTok tonics, the internet overflows with cures, including the classic greasy diner plates and "hair of the dog" drinks. 

Do they deliver? Or are they all hype?

I've tested dozens of hangover remedies over more than a dozen years reporting on food and beverages. This piece puts six popular remedies under the microscope, blending personal trials, friend anecdotes, and science from liver enzyme studies to enzyme research. 

Unfortunately, there are no miracles, but some cut the edge reliably. While some do help a little, the ultimate lesson is moderation, hydration, and time. 

What Causes a Hangover

Hangovers stem from alcohol's toxic effect on the body: Dehydration combined with electrolyte chaos and an acetaldehyde buildup, or the toxic byproduct from alcohol that your liver struggles to clear. This all causes inflammation, resulting in head and body aches and sleep sabotage.

The Most Popular Hangover Remedies

Hydration hacks like powdered electrolytes top lists, while food fixes range from greasy breakfasts to spicy resets. And supplements promise to detox. There are also behavioral options, like turning to more booze, a sweat session, or the morning caffeine jolt. Viral products like DHM pills and IVs rake in millions, but evidence lags.

Testing the Remedies

Hydration and sleep, plus maybe added electrolytes

What It Claims

The main culprit for hangovers is dehydration. Simply drinking water throughout the night along with booze is a safe bet to help avoid dehydration, but added electrolyte powers like Liquid IV and Nuun, can help replenish the sodium, potassium and magnesium lost to alcohol.

How It Works (Supposed To)

Water battles the dehydrating powers of alcohol. The electrolyte powders mimic Gatorade but with glucose for absorption. A Nutrients 2023 review found a 25% to 50% reduction of symptoms when paired with water.​

Test Results

I’ve often chugged a Liquid IV-laced water before bed after a night of sleeping, and while not scientific, it has certainly staved off some bad mornings. Likewise, the best overall option is likely alternating water with every alcoholic beverage, which keeps you hydrated and slows alcohol consumption. Electrolytes the next morning can help a little.

Bourdain's Spicy Reset

The late chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain was famous for his globe-trotting, in which he often imbibed heavily. Bourdain swore by his hangover remedy: an ice-cold Coca-Cola, aspirin, a joint, and spicy food, preferably Szechuan cuisine. 

What It Claims

The cold soda shocks the system with caffeine and sugar, while the aspirin kills the inflammation. The joint kicks in the appetite, so the spicy food releases endorphins to further fight the inflammation.

Test Results

This remedy does work surprisingly well, probably because of the compounded effect of all the elements. The Coke helps reset the body’s sugar levels, and substituting ibuprofen for aspirin because of liver concerns is great and hits the headache. The food helps sweat everything else out, and keeps the endorphins kicking to work their wonders.
It works well after a late-morning wakeup, and while it likely won’t fully heal as time will, it works wonders. 

Sprite Ritual

What It Claims

Lemon-lime soda boosts liver enzymes.

How It Works

In a Food & Function study in 2013, Sprite accelerated acetaldehyde clearance by up to 30% compared with water. It claims Taurine and citric acid prime liver detox.

Test Results

I’ve tried this out a few times. It works great, similar to electrolytes the night before. Probably because it helps hydrate, but also, the claims of the enzymes helping the liver could very well be true.

Again, it’s not necessarily a hangover cure-all, but even if a bit of a placebo, it helps more than nothing and at least helps hydrate before sleep.

Greasy Food

What It Claims

Fats coat the stomach and can help stabilize blood sugar.

How It Works

If eaten before a night of drinking, there is some scientific backing that it can help slow alcohol absorption. After drinking, there’s also evidence that it helps empty the system to help battle nausea.

Test Results

For me, greasy food after drinking does not work; I retch at the breakfast table when presented with food. Anecdotally, a burger or something else greasy can help slow a night of drinking. 

However, I’ve had plenty of friends who love this solution, so it must be a personal preference and is definitely not universal. 

Hair of the Dog

What It Claims

More alcohol dulls symptoms.

How It Works

It reengages the brain chemicals that slow activity and delay withdrawal.​

Test Results

Heading back to booze after a rough night, and the first sip can be repulsive, and gulping down the first drink can be a chore. But once it’s down, it does really seem to help, until the process starts all over.

So ultimately, it helps, but really doesn’t in the long run.

Workout

What It Claims

It boosts endorphins to battle the ill effects while it sweats out the toxins.

How It Works

Working out helps hangovers by triggering endorphins that naturally dull your headache and nausea, while sweating flushes out lingering alcohol toxins through your skin.

Test Results

Another remedy that can be extremely difficult to get started, but once moving, it is extremely effective. Whether it’s a slow, one-mile jog or maybe an intense game of basketball or a weightlifting session, it is one of the more effective ways to get back to normal. A warm shower after doesn’t hurt. 

Coffee

What It Claims

Caffeine is supposed to help shake off the sluggishness and brain fog.

How It Works

Supposedly, the caffeine constricts vessels to cut down headaches and boosts dopamine to help shake off other side effects.

Test Results

Coffee does nothing to help, at least for me. In fact, because of its natural effects, it also dehydrates, so it can ultimately make things worse. 

What Actually Works (and Why)

Electrolytes, Sprite and Bourdain's spicy shock lead. All three target dehydration, rebalancing bodily enzymes and cutting inflammation. Hydration and sleep underpin it all. Water, water and more water, combined with plenty of sleep.

Greasy food and hair of the dog can offer comfort, but they are not a cure. 

No Magic, Just Method

Hangovers don't vanish with one miracle drink or pill. Instead, they fade as your body processes the alcohol's chaos, roughly one drink per hour. What this testing reveals is that smart symptom management can shave hours off the suffering.

Pounding water and electrolytes and Sprite before bed primes your liver enzymes and combats dehydration, while Bourdain's ice-cold Coke and fiery Szechuan reset delivers a brutal but effective morning jolt of endorphins, circulation, and appetite. Workouts can transform misery into clarity, if and when you push through.

Greasy food comforts some but revolts others like me, while hair of the dog offers fleeting relief before restarting the cycle. 

The real strategy lives in prevention: alternate water religiously, crash early, and wake ready to sweat it out. Your next morning doesn't have to feel like punishment.