How to Prevent a Hangover

Key Takeaways

• Drink moderately to prevent hangovers - Jump to Section
• Foods like avocado and nuts help reduce hangover severity - Jump to Section
• Drink fluids and eat carbs to ease hangover symptoms - Jump to Section
• White wines, vodka, and gin are less likely to cause hangovers - Jump to Section
• Dark liquors like whiskey lead to worse hangovers - Jump to Section
• Frequent hangovers may indicate a possible alcohol problem - Jump to Section

Is it Possible to Prevent a Hangover?

Yes, but the only sure-fire way to not experience hangover symptoms is to consume no more than a moderate amount of alcohol. 

The best way to prevent a hangover is to not drink or to consume only a very small amount of alcohol. For most healthy people, moderate alcohol consumption is approximately one or two drinks per day.

Products advertised as offering hangover prevention rarely work. 

If you intend to drink more than just one or two drinks, there are a few things you can do to reduce the intensity of hangover symptoms. 

For example, some people take over-the-counter pain medications to reduce their hangover headache. It’s important to speak to your doctor before mixing alcohol and OTC pain relief because the combination puts some people at risk of liver damage.

Additionally, eating, drinking plenty of water to rehydrate your body, and avoiding certain types of alcohol tend to reduce the severity of hangover symptoms.

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6 Ways to Prevent a Hangover Before, During & After Drinking Alcohol 

Here are six ways to help prevent a hangover: 

1. Eat before and while drinking: Food slows down the body’s alcohol absorption, reducing the release of acetaldehyde (the primary cause of a hangover) in the stomach. Drinking on an empty stomach makes everything worse. The more food you consume before drinking, the more it will take for the alcohol to enter the bloodstream.¹
2. “Hair of the Dog”: Consuming a small amount of alcohol when you have a hangover wards off withdrawal symptoms. However, using this approach frequently can create a dangerous cycle.²
3. Choose your alcoholic beverages carefully: Avoid alcohols with higher congeners and opt for clear or light-colored types of alcohol like vodka, gin, and white wines.³
4. Alternate drinks with a glass of water: This keeps you hydrated and reduces alcohol consumption.⁴
5. Know your personal limits when it comes to alcohol: Most people don’t experience hangover symptoms after just a drink or two, but this varies from person to person. Understanding what you can handle helps you avoid over-imbibing.
6. Avoid a mix of alcohol: Once you begin drinking rum, don’t switch to wine or whiskey, and so on. Alcoholic drinks that contain a mix of alcohols also tend to make hangovers worse. 

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What Can You Eat to Prevent a Hangover?

Eating before drinking alcohol and/or while you’re drinking is one of the best ways to reduce the severity of hangover symptoms. What you eat before drinking can further improve how you feel after consuming too much alcohol.

Here are the best foods to eat to reduce the severity of a hangover:

• Avocado
• Olive Oil
• Whole milk
• Nuts
• Salmon
• Chicken breast
• Pasta
• Hummus
• Whole-grain bread
• Spinach
• Pickles
• Asparagus
• Cauliflower
• “Bland” foods, including rice, bananas, toast, and applesauce ⁵

Many people find that a combination of these foods works best for helping them with hangover symptoms.

For example, a meal of spaghetti with olive oil, chicken, and asparagus or two slices of whole grain toast with avocado, thinly sliced salmon, and fresh spinach would both provide a variety of hangover-reducing effects.

How to Reduce Hangover Symptoms in the Morning

Once you’ve consumed too much alcohol, there’s not much you can do to prevent a hangover. The best way to avoid a hangover or minimize hangover symptoms is to avoid developing one in the first place.

However, there are some things you can do to ease the symptoms and speed your recovery.⁶

For example:

• Consume fluids: Alcohol dehydrates the body by promoting excessive urination. Additionally, some people experience vomiting, sweating, and diarrhea when drinking too much, further exacerbating dehydration. Rehydrating the body with water, a sports drink, or Pedialyte with electrolytes reduces some of the most severe hangover symptoms.
• Eat carbohydrates: Alcohol causes a dip in blood sugar levels, leading to headaches and fatigue. Eating carbs nudges blood sugar levels back to normal. Bland carbohydrates (including toast, rice, or crackers) tend to ease nausea too.
• Take an OTC pain reliever, but avoid Tylenol: Aspirin, ibuprofen, and other NSAIDs help with hangover-induced aches and pains. There is a risk of stomach irritation with these medications, but unlike with acetaminophen (Tylenol), there’s no significant risk of liver damage.
• Sleep it off: Many people find that sleeping during the hours they feel hungover helps them avoid the problem, but also helps with lingering fatigue.
• Use antacids: You can ward off stomach upset with simple over-the-counter antacids.
• Be patient: Hangovers usually don’t last long. You should feel a little better with each passing hour as your body clears the byproducts of alcohol.

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What Alcohol is the Least Likely to Give You a Hangover?

Alcohol with fewer congeners tends to produce less intense hangover symptoms. This includes:

• White wines
• Vodka
• Gin

What Alcohol Causes the Worst Hangover?

Drinking large amounts of any type of alcohol can trigger hangover symptoms. The higher your blood alcohol, no matter if it’s from beer, wine, or hard liquor, the worse your hangover symptoms. 

That said, alcohol with higher levels of congeners tends to cause the worst hangovers.

Congeners are a byproduct of fermentation. They are found in dark liquor, including:

• Whiskey
• Brandy
• Red wines
• Rum

Additionally, cheaper versions of these liquors have higher amounts of congeners. 

Additionally, the more sugar you consume while drinking alcohol, the greater likelihood of an intense hangover. Sugary cocktails tend to use a combination of different alcohols and/or mask the taste of alcohol, so it’s easier to drink more without realizing it.

What is an Alcohol Hangover?

The term “hangover” describes a variety of symptoms that occur after someone drinks too much alcohol.

Any amount of alcohol affects your body, but when you drink enough to feel “buzzed” or “drunk,” you’re likely to experience a hangover as your body eliminates the alcohol from your system.x

There’s no exact amount of alcohol a person must drink to feel hungover. Some people feel less than their best after just a drink or two, while others must consume a significant amount of alcohol to experience a hangover.

Hangover symptoms are unpleasant, but they are rarely dangerous. They usually wear off on their own within approximately 24 hours after your last drink. 

Causes & Symptoms of a Hangover 

Hangovers occur when you drink too much alcohol and then stop. The sudden drop in your blood alcohol content triggers hangover symptoms.

Most people can expect to experience hangover symptoms if they drink enough to:

• Urinate more frequently, leading to dehydration
• Trigger inflammation in your immune system
• Increase stomach acid, irritating your stomach lining and delaying the emptying of your stomach
• Decrease your blood sugar
• Expand your blood vessels
• Disrupt your sleep

Many types of alcohol get their flavor from congeners. Congeners occur in higher amounts in dark liquors, such as bourbon and brandy. This is why many people tend to experience worse hangovers when they drink dark liquors, as opposed to gin and vodka.

You can experience a hangover with any type of alcohol, but congeners tend to produce hangovers with the most intense symptoms. Common hangover symptoms include:

• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Excessive thirst
• Dry mouth
• Headache
• Muscle soreness
• Nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain
• Poor sleep
• Increased sensitivity to light and sound
• Dizziness or a sensation of the room spinning
• Shakiness
• Inability to concentrate
• Mood disturbances, including depression, anxiety, and irritability
• Rapid heartbeat

Is Your Drinking a Sign of an Alcohol Problem?

Experiencing a hangover every so often is probably not a sign that you have a drinking problem. 

But if hangovers are frequent, or you have other signs that indicate a problem with alcohol, you might want to consider cutting back or speaking to someone about your alcohol consumption.

Summary

Mixing NyQuil and alcohol is dangerous and can have serious consequences. It increases the chance of an overdose, liver damage, impaired immune system, and addiction.

Moreover, you shouldn’t use NyQuil as a sleep aid or for long-term treatment of symptoms. If you take more than the recommended dose, you may experience withdrawal symptoms.

Talking to your doctor before taking NyQuil and other medications is best. They can help you understand the possible risks and decide if it’s a safe choice for you.

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