To prevent a hangover while drinking, pace yourself with one drink per hour, alternate with water to stay hydrated, eat food (especially fats/proteins) to slow alcohol absorption, choose lighter-colored drinks (fewer congeners), and avoid shots or mixing with caffeine. Eating beforehand, choosing drinks wisely (vodka/gin over bourbon/whiskey), and drinking water between alcoholic beverages are key strategies, even when already drinking.
Water and a decent low salt meal before drinking. While drinking pick a drink and stick to it. If you're drinking beers, stay with beer, don't be tempted by hard spirits. Drink water in-between beers. Stop drinking alcohol a few hours before bed and drink water. Drink an oral rehydration solution before bed.
The 1-2-3 drinking rule is a guideline for moderation: 1 drink per hour, no more than 2 drinks per occasion, and at least 3 alcohol-free days each week, helping to pace consumption and stay within safer limits. It emphasizes pacing alcohol intake with water and food, knowing standard drink sizes (12oz beer, 5oz wine, 1.5oz spirits), and avoiding daily drinking to reduce health risks, though some health guidance suggests even lower limits.
If you can drink ``loads and loads'' without a hangover, it could possibly be related to increased tolerance. Another possible cause might be that you are still drunk the next day. Or, you may be have a metabolism that breaks the alcohol down without giving you a hangover.
A hangover is unpleasant, but symptoms tend to go away within a day or so. If you drank too much alcohol and feel sick, try at-home hangover remedies like drinking plenty of water, eating some carbs and sleeping. There's no quick cure for hangovers. You need to let your body rid itself of the alcohol and heal.
“But remember, caffeine is a diuretic, which might push you to the bathroom more and worsen dehydration — a key culprit behind those dreaded hangover symptoms. Sugar in Coke offers a quick energy boost too, which could temporarily alleviate that weak, sluggish feeling.”
5 Poses to Cure Your Hangover
The "20-minute rule for alcohol" is a simple strategy to moderate drinking: wait 20 minutes after finishing one alcoholic drink before starting the next, giving you time to rehydrate with water and reassess if you truly want another, often reducing cravings and overall intake. It helps slow consumption, break the chain of continuous drinking, and allows the body a natural break, making it easier to decide if you've had enough or switch to a non-alcoholic option.
Sleeping while drunk might help you feel rested, but it's not a magic solution for sobering up. Your body needs time to process the amount of alcohol you've consumed, and there's no shortcut for that.
But a study by the British Medical Journal found that vodka is actually the least likely drink to give you a hangover: it's so pure that it contains virtually no congeners. Mixing vodka with soda or fruit juice is ideal, as sugary soft drinks can contribute to a headache the morning after the night before. But go easy.
Two fingers means a single pour. Three fingers means a double pour. Served neat in a rocks glass. It's old school.
If you do experience early symptoms of ARLD, these are often quite vague, such as:
Four beers can show up on a breathalyzer for several hours, often 6 to 12 hours or longer, depending heavily on individual factors like weight, sex, food intake, metabolism, and the beers' strength; while it might drop below the legal limit in 6-7 hours for some, alcohol can linger for 12+ hours, even into the next day, making it detectable long after you feel sober.
How to Cure a Hangover Fast
Eat a substantial meal before going out and snack throughout the night. Wear light clothing to avoid overheating. If you are drinking alcohol, space each drink with a water to avoid dehydration. Know where the free water stations are, and top up regularly.
A popular theory suggests that dehydration is the primary cause of alcohol hangover. ∗ If correct, the consumption of water could alleviate hangover symptoms. This review concludes that hangover and dehydration are two co-occurring but independent consequences of alcohol consumption.
The seven stages of alcohol intoxication, based on increasing Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) levels, are Sobriety, Euphoria, Excitement, Confusion, Stupor, Coma, and Death, progressing from mild impairment to severe central nervous system depression, with significant risks of injury or fatality at higher levels.
All opioids, such as morphine, methadone, oxycodone, fentanyl, and hydrocodone, when combined with alcohol, could increase the risk of overdose leading to death via suppression of the respiratory system.
How to sober up before going to sleep
The "3-2-1" (or often "1-2-3") drinking rule is a guideline for moderate alcohol consumption: 1 drink per hour, no more than 2 drinks per occasion, and at least 3 alcohol-free days per week, helping to pace intake and reduce risks. It aligns with official health advice, emphasizing that the body processes only about one standard drink (e.g., 12oz beer, 5oz wine) per hour, and provides a framework for mindful drinking to avoid binge patterns and health issues, though it's a simplification of broader guidelines.
Yes, you can still feel drunk or have alcohol in your system 7 hours later, especially if you drank heavily, as the body metabolizes alcohol slowly (about one standard drink per hour), and factors like weight, sex, food intake, and overall health affect how long it takes for your Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) to drop and for the effects to fully wear off. While your BAC decreases predictably, significant intoxication can mean lingering effects or impairment long after the initial buzz fades, with heavy drinking potentially requiring many hours to sober up completely.
After one standard drink, your body generally takes about one to two hours to process the alcohol and return to a 0.00 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC), with the liver metabolizing roughly one standard drink per hour, though factors like weight, age, sex, and food intake can change this. It's crucial to understand that time is the only factor that lowers BAC, not coffee or cold showers.
Treatment
When hungover, avoid more alcohol ("hair of the dog"), caffeine (like coffee), greasy/sugary foods, strenuous activity, and driving, as these worsen dehydration, irritate your stomach, or impair you further. Instead, rehydrate with water, eat bland foods (toast, crackers), rest, and be cautious with pain relievers like acetaminophen (liver damage risk) or ibuprofen (stomach irritation).
The Hangover Trilogy from Worst to Best