Article by Izzy Giacoppo

Plenty of us have found ourselves chugging water before bed after a night of drinks with friends, only to wake up with a pounding head in a spinning room. Unfortunately, just a glass of water right before bed won’t reverse the drinks or lead to a peaceful morning. Once you wake up feeling the damage, you can try all the tricks to make your hangover magically disappear, but the most effective method is prevention–and we know the secret recipe to keep you from waking up miserable.

The reason why a glass of water before bed doesn’t seem to do anything is timing. Water is definitely your number one best friend in this situation—especially being the only free drink at the bar—but gulping it down will hurt your stomach and disrupt your sleep. Generally, it’s better to start drinking water before, during, and after drinking so you can take small sips and still get a good amount without any middle-of-the-night bathroom trips. For the best hydration, you should stop drinking alcohol at least an hour before bed. This will also make going to bed easier because you’ll get a chance to sober up a bit and get better sleep, instead of feeling like you’re on a roller coaster once your head hits the pillow. 

You might also be tempted to have an electrolyte drink, which is a great idea, but there’s a good chance you’ll be out for drinks and won’t be able to have your electrolytes until you get home. At that point, you’ll want to be in bed ASAP, so you’ll be tempted to down the drink in one gulp. Instead, you can take an electrolyte tablet and go to bed without delay. 

While hydration is key to avoiding hangovers, so is nourishment. Having a snack like toast or crackers can curb cravings and improve sleep. Eating before drinking is important because drinking on an empty stomach can be dangerous and keep you from enjoying the night altogether. Food and water help with not only staying strong, but getting good rest and waking up feeling refreshed. 

Properly nourishing your body and timing what you drink the right way makes a big difference, but they don’t change the fact that alcohol is dehydrating, and can have some unpleasant effects the next morning. This isn’t to say you need to stuff yourself with as much food and water as possible, nor is it to say that nothing will actually work. It’s important to understand that after doing all the right things, you can still wake up not feeling one hundred percent. However, following our “recipe” you’ll be less likely to feel those long-lasting impacts.