How To Get Rid Of a Hangover Fast At Home - 15 Methods

Let me guess. You’re currently hungover and now you’re wondering how to get rid of a hangover fast at home. Am I right? And you don’t have any hydration sachets on hand?

Thought so…

Well fear not. I’m here to help so stop your moaning and let’s get rid of that hangover fast. Or as fast as we can. Here are 15 of the top natural home remedies to cure that dreaded hangover. From what to do before drinking and whilst you’re drinking to avoid a hangover. All the way to what to do the morning after if it’s too late.

Emphasis on the phrase ‘natural cures’. The last thing you need is myself recommending some niche product you don’t have and wont help you now. And lets be honest, Health Harvard’s 7 steps to cure a hangover and WebMD’s hangover cures are good reads, but they lack the go getter ‘lets get rid of this hangover fast’ methods.

too hungover to read? jump to methods

If it's too late for you to avoid a hangover. If you’re currently laying in a bed of guilt, sweat and stank. Doom scrolling through your phone looking for a home hangover remedy which doesn’t involve going out to buy some pill you’ve never heard of then scroll to the last section of this post.

There I cover all things home hangover cures if you’re already hungover.

If you are yet to start drinking and are looking to fight the hangover before it begins then well done on being well organised.

You must have work tomorrow or something because no one is that well organised.

Start scrolling to learn what to do before drinking. Take all these steps, and you will naturally have cured your hangover or avoided it completely. Which is, well, exactly what you need!

Now before I do jump into the cures let me cover a few questions that keep propping up regarding hangovers, just to make you feel less like you’re alone in this and to put that banging head of yours to ease.

Hangover Questions Answered

do hangovers get worse with age?

Yes, Hangovers do get worse with age because your your body's ability to process alcohol gets less efficient and your metabolism has to work harder the older you get.

When hungover, is it good to throw up?

Yes, when you’re hungover, it’s a good idea to throw up if you need too. Getting what alcohol that’s still inside your stomach out is the best cure for a hangover, and vomiting is a quick way to do that. What’s important is to make sure you drink water and eat something after being sick to replenish nutrients lost.

Why you get a hangover headache?

Hangover headaches come from many reasons, dehydration being the main one. Alcohol dehydrates you so when drinking in excess, this causes dizziness which turns into a headache. Alcohol also expands blood vessels triggering pain receptors in your head. You may also have a hangover headache if you’ve been drinking in places with flashing lights, lasers, and/or loud music.

Are hangover shakes normal?

Hangover shakes are completely normal. The shakes can be a sign of withdrawal, which is a sign of addiction. So when people who don’t usually shake when hungover, suddenly wake up with the shakes, they tend worry that they’re experiencing alcoholism. Which could be the case if you drink a lot, and for a long period of time, then suddenly stop drinking.

But if you’ve just had an extra excessive night of drinking and now have the shakes, it’s most probably your nervous system not working at it’s best because your body is busy fighting a banging headache, nausea, or dehydration. The best thing you can do is drink/eat lot’s of sugar (chocolate, energy drinks, orange juice) and replenish any waters or nutrients you might be lacking after being on the lash all night.

15 Hangover Home Remedies

Let’s get into the 15 things you can do to beat get rid of your hangover fast at home.

The night before

These are the tips to do before it's too late. These are the steps you’re going to take before you start drinking. (don’t worry, we will get to what to do if you’re already hungover soon)

It’s too late for 90% of us but if you’re yet to go out, do all of these and hopefully you won't have a hangover to cure.

Or at the very least make it somewhat bearable. These steps are about avoiding the dreaded hangover.

#1 Eat a good pre drinking meal

You want to prep the body for the absolute bashing it's about to get with booze. By eating a good meal beforehand you are giving the body all the nutrients it needs to survive the upcoming bashing.

Something carb heavy with ideally slow releasing carbs is always a good idea so that your body has energy to burn whilst fighting excessive alcohol intake.

Check out this mushroom soup recipe for a good stomach prepping meal

There’s also loads of delicious food recipes right here on Smartblend you can check out.

#2 Drink quality spirits

Bad spirits make for the worst hangovers. By indulging in cheap wine and bottom shelf booze you are asking for a hangover.

For the most part it's not the alcohol intake that gives us excessive hangovers, it's all the other stuff in what we are drinking.

Low quality spirits are distilled with low quality ingredients and diluted with low quality water. 

A good tip for this one is to avoid house spirits when drinking out. They are usually the cheapest for a reason. Spend the extra 20p on high quality shots.

If you’re drinking at home like most of us are still being in lockdown and all, then don't just go for the cheapest gin in the local bargain booze. 

I’m not saying you need to drink the most expensive spirits, mid-level prices will be just fine.

#3 Drink 100% Agave tequila

Something I covered in my 8 surprising health benefits of tequila was the fact that drinking 100% agave tequila won't give you a hangover. Trust me.

For this one you need to look for a bottle of tequila with “100% agave” on the label. Its usually on the front.

Some extra things to note. Don’t mix your tequila with high sugar mixers or fruit juice. Stick to low sugar, neutral mixers like flavoured sparkling water or soda and fresh lime.

#4 Choose your mixers wisely

One of the sneaky instigators of the hangover is the mixers you use. Remember, this isn't entirely the alcohol's fault here. Drinking what amounts to a 2 litre bottle of orange juice in a 5 hour period is never going to make you feel great.

All these high sugary fruit juices and mixers give us a sugar high, that once we sleep it leaves us with an almighty sugar come down, banging headache and feeling sick. In other words, it helps give us a hangover. 

Ever had a night just drinking straight spirits? Sure you have a terrible hangover, but it's never as bad as that night you smashed back 15 vodka cranberries at some student bar.

#5 Keep hydrated

We have all heard the trick of drinking a glass of water between each drink. There's a reason it's a popular remedy and that's because it works.

#6 Eat well but don’t binge

Usually, we go through the same drunken routine. We eat nothing for 8 hours straight. Just surviving on liquid calories, then on our way home we stop off at the local take away and binge out on the biggest pizza we can get our hands on.

Not to mention the side of onion rings, cheesy chips, mozzarella bites and anything else cheesy and fried.

That's not doing anything for your hangover. If you’re hungry throughout the night then grab yourself something to eat. Don’t just “forget to eat”. And your post bedtime meal you binge out on? Make it somewhat healthy.

Now I'm not saying you have to whip up a salmon fillet with a side salad. Binge all you like, but you want it to be nutritious.

Top tip for this one, make yourself some food before you go get drunk. That way you can just heat it up when you need to binge.

Before bed

So you are stumbling around drunk, searching for your bed but hold on! Snap out of your drunken haze for a minute or two. Here’s the 2 step routine you’re going to try and remember to do before passing out.

Before bed hangover photo - all rights reserved

#7 Drink water

One of the most important steps in avoiding the dreaded hangover is to simply have some water before bed. Don’t over do it though, glugging down a litre of water in one sitting will put unnecessary stress on the body not to mention wake you up throughout the night for bathroom breaks.

The sweet spot is to have 1 glass of water, have a second if you’re feeling extra dehydrated, then leave a glass of water next to your bed so you have something there if you wake up with the formidable dry mouth.

#8 Black out your bedroom

The trick here is to get a good night's sleep. You want to give your body a good 8 hours of sleeping to avoid that hangover.

Chances are that if you’re drinking then you’re going to sleep later. Meaning it will get lighter quicker then you think. Having the morning sun glare through your window will wake you up, especially if you already have a pretty decent sleeping pattern.

So make sure you close your window so there's no morning noise waking you up, close your blinds and block out that dreaded morning sunshine.

The day after

So it's the day after, you’ve done everything above and you STILL have a hangover.

Or perhaps you have only just seen this, you are hungover and in desperate need of a home remedy. Its no longer about avoiding a hangover. It's now about hangover remedies.

You need to get rid of your hangover fast. Here's what you do next to get rid of a hangover fast at home.

Hangover bed cover photo - all rights reserved

#9 Drink water… Again

You see the pattern here? There Is a lot of water drinking involved in avoiding the hangover. Remember in the last section when I mentioned putting a glass of water by your bed? This is where you’re going to thank me for that.

Force a glass of water down yourself and it will get the body in motion.

#10 Eat a hearty breakfast

If you're hungover then the last thing you probably want to do is eat. Just the thought of food is probably making you want to be sick. I know I know, but if you want to feel better then its a necessary step.

A big old breakfast might make you feel worse whilst you’re eating it, but less then an hour later you will start feeling a hell of a lot better.

You want something big and hearty, carb heavy is always a plus. And the best breakfast for curing that hangover? It's none other than the humble full English. Or any of the Smartblend breakfast recipes.

#11 If you just can't eat then go for a smoothie. 

If the thought of eating right now is making your physically sick then go for a smoothie. Just make sure you cram it with everything from healthy nutrients to carbs.

Green smoothies work great for this. Just blend up some apple juice with kale, spinach and oats for slow releasing energy. Oats will be your best friend in this smoothie.

#12 Coconut water

Dehydration is one of the leading causes of your hangover. Coconut water is one of the most hydrating drinks you can get, more so than water. So stock up on the coconut water.

#13 Move a little

Exercise is the last thing you will want to do at this point. I feel you, and I’m not asking you to do a 30 minutes HIIT session. But a little bit of movement is going to help you feel a lot better.

Even a walk will help to increase circulation, bringing more blood and oxygen to your brain and muscles. That's going to help a lot, especially when it comes to symptoms like headaches and sore muscles. 

If you can get a sweat going then that's even better. It's going to help you sweat out all that alcohol in your body.

#14 Plenty of rest

Hopefully you don’t have work today. There's nothing worse than forcing yourself into work when you are hungover, it's just going to make things worse. Stay in bed for a little while, get some extra sleep. Rest the body.

#15 Wellness shots

Go to this recipe right here, scroll down to the first wellness shot - that’s the lemons, ginger, and ACV shot. Make it, shot it, trust me.

You will feel much better.

So just to bullet point. If you have just woken up with a hangover and you’re scrolling through google looking for natural home hangover remedies. Here's what you need to do right now

• Have a glass of water

• Eat a hearty breakfast or at least eat something, anything! Just eat

• Down some coconut water if you have it. If not, its back to the regular water.

• Walk around for a bit, even if it's just cleaning your kitchen or doing a few laps of your house.

• Now get yourself back in bed for a nap. You should wake up feeling great!

But what if…

You have a 2 day hangover?

This could be because of a few things, 1) your older and your body takes a lot more to fight a hangover, in which case just hang in there. 2) it’s a really bad hangover, in which case just make sure you’re eating well, drinking LOTS of water and are getting enough rest. 3) You’re not actively trying to cure your hangover. Just follow the above list and you should be fine.

You can’t keep water down whilst hungover?

If you can’t keep water down whilst hungover without throwing up. Try eating something just before you drink your water, eating water dense foods like cucumbers, or try mixing up a wellness shot. It’s less liquid and concentrated benefits.

It’s the worse hangover of your life?

If you’re experiencing the worst hangover of your life and you’re worried. Try eating something, downing as much water as your body will let you before throwing up, then taking a nap. It might be a good idea to begin on the pain killers as well. See how you feel once you wake up from your nap.

You have to go work?

If you’ve woken up early with a hangover, you have work in lets say, an hour, and you need to cure your hangover quick. DO NOT just go back to sleep. Get out of bed, get moving, complete as much from the above list as you can and if you do have some time left before work, go for a quick nap AFTER completing the list.

Hopefully, by the time you make it to work or early in your shift, your hangover will feel much better.

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Hi, I’m Cameron, guv’nor of Smartblend and author of this article. If you’ve enjoyed this article, why not check out what else I have to other using the top navigation link? Below are a few similar articles to get you started.