Quick Answer
The most effective hangover fixes are: water and electrolytes (addresses dehydration), carbohydrate-rich food (stabilises blood sugar), B-vitamin replenishment, time to process remaining acetaldehyde, and sleep. There is no instant cure — but DHM supplements taken before bed after drinking significantly reduce next-morning symptoms by supporting alcohol metabolism overnight.
Why Do You Have a Hangover Right Now?
Before fixing it, understand what's causing it. A hangover is not one thing — it's four overlapping problems happening at once:
- Dehydration. Alcohol is a diuretic. It suppresses ADH (anti-diuretic hormone), causing you to urinate more than you drink. That lost fluid causes headache, dry mouth, and fatigue.
- Acetaldehyde buildup. Your liver breaks alcohol into acetaldehyde — a toxic compound — before converting it to acetate. When you drink faster than your liver can process, acetaldehyde accumulates and causes nausea, sweating, and that general awful feeling.
- Inflammation. Alcohol triggers an immune response. Your body releases cytokines — the same molecules that make you feel terrible when you're sick. This is why a hangover can feel like a mild flu.
- Blood sugar crash. Alcohol inhibits glucose production in the liver while your muscles keep burning it. Result: low blood sugar, shakiness, weakness, and difficulty concentrating.
Effective remedies address one or more of these. Here's what works.
What Actually Helps (and Why)
1. Water with Electrolytes
Plain water helps, but it's not the full picture. When you lose fluid through alcohol-induced urination, you also lose sodium, potassium, and magnesium — electrolytes your body needs to function. Drinking plain water dilutes the remaining electrolytes further.
Fix: a sports drink, coconut water, or plain water with a pinch of salt and something with potassium (like a banana). This directly addresses the dehydration component and usually improves headache within 30-60 minutes.
2. Carbohydrate-Rich Food
Toast, rice, crackers, or any bland carbohydrate does two things: stabilises blood sugar and settles the stomach. The reason you crave greasy food after drinking is that fat slows gastric emptying — which helps nausea — but simple carbs are easier to digest when you're feeling rough.
Eggs are a solid hangover food too — they contain cysteine, which helps break down acetaldehyde.
3. B-Vitamin Replenishment
Alcohol depletes the B vitamins your body needs for energy metabolism: thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), B6, and B12. This is a large part of why you feel exhausted and foggy. A B-complex supplement, Vegemite on toast, or a fortified drink can partially restore these levels.
4. Sleep and Time
The only way to fully process alcohol is time. Your liver converts roughly one standard drink per hour. Sleep allows your body to do this processing with fewer demands on your system. If you can, go back to bed — recovery is measurably faster when you sleep through the worst of it.
5. Ibuprofen (With Caution)
Anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen address the inflammatory component of hangovers. Take with food (never on an empty stomach). Note: paracetamol (Tylenol) is a poor choice — it's processed by the liver, which is already under strain. Ibuprofen is the better option specifically for hangover headaches, but don't exceed normal dosage.
Prevent It Next Time
Revive Capsules works overnight — take before bed and address the root causes before they become tomorrow's problems.
Shop Revive Capsules →What Doesn't Work (Common Myths)
Coffee
Coffee masks fatigue temporarily but doesn't cure a hangover. As a diuretic, it can worsen dehydration. The caffeine headache relief is real, but it's short-lived and usually replaced by a rebound headache.
"Hair of the Dog" (More Alcohol)
Drinking more alcohol delays the metabolism of existing acetaldehyde — which does temporarily reduce symptoms. But you're not fixing the hangover, you're deferring it. The deferred version is usually worse. This is not a viable strategy.
Greasy Food Before Bed
Eating before drinking slows alcohol absorption — genuinely useful. Eating greasy food after you're already drunk does very little. The alcohol is already in your bloodstream.
Sweat It Out
Exercise while hungover increases dehydration and places stress on a body that is already inflamed and nutrient-depleted. Light movement is fine, but intense exercise will make most people feel significantly worse.
The Before-Bed Strategy (The Better Approach)
Everything above treats a hangover after it's happened. The more effective strategy is to support your body's recovery during the window when most of the damage occurs: the overnight period after drinking.
DHM (Dihydromyricetin) — the active ingredient in Revive Capsules — has been studied for its role in supporting alcohol metabolism. When taken before bed, it works with your liver's overnight processing rather than trying to undo the damage the next morning.
Combined with B vitamins to replace what alcohol depleted, milk thistle for liver support, and L-theanine for restorative sleep, the before-bed approach addresses all four hangover causes proactively rather than reactively.