Wine Hangover Cures: 12 Ways to Recover Faster (With Infographic)

Did you know that 50% of all adults who drink at least two drinks per day have at least one hangover a year? Unfortunately, if you’re a big wine fan, you might find yourself having more than one per week.

Thankfully, when the dreaded hangover hits after a bottle of wine, you can take several steps to minimize your suffering. The following ideas should help you recover from hangovers before you know it.

Wine Hangover Cures

Sleep: Get as Much as You Can

Wine Hangover Cures - Sleep

Sleep is a potent cure for so many conditions, and a hangover is one of them!

When you rest, you give your body time to heal and recover from the abuse you may have put it through the night before.

A good tip is to sleep as long as your body needs and take naps during the day. Each rest you take is likely to make your recovery that much quicker.

Related: Why wine makes you sleepy.

Take a Hot Shower or Bath

Wine Hangover Cures - Hot Shower or Bath

A hot shower or bath opens up your body’s skin pores and helps to rehydrate your body.

While it might not add more moisture to your dehydrated brain, the overall soothing effect of the shower or bath might help you relax.

Often, it is a good idea to take a hot shower or bath before you sleep after a night of drinking wine or have one when you wake up.

Get Fresh Air

Wine Hangover Cures - Fresh Air

Going outside in the morning after drinking a lot of wine is often a great idea because fresh air is often a powerful recovery tool.

Getting some fresh oxygen to your mind may speed your recovery process and make it smoother over the next few hours.

In addition, you can take a short and relaxing walk in the morning to help, as this movement should help your blood flow without causing an upset stomach.

Take Painkillers Like ibuprofen or Aspirin

Wine Hangover Cures - Painkillers

Painkillers like aspirin help with inflammation, a common problem after drinking a lot of wine.

While alcohol also tends to cause inflammation, the ingredients in wine can particularly worsen this problem.

Taking ibuprofen-based painkillers helps decrease this inflammation and makes your recovery easier by minimizing the intensity and length of this inflammation period.

Drink Plenty of Fluids, Especially Water

Wine Hangover Cures - Drink Fluids Water

Anybody who’s ever had a wild drinking night knows that water is their best friend for preventing hangovers.

If you have a hangover, your body will need that water even more.

So if you forgot to drink a glass of water for each wine the night before, fill up a water jug and finish it to help your mind recover.

It’s important to know your limits. Hate that hangover feeling the next day? Temper yourself, drink water, and you won’t regret it the following morning.

Sports Drinks

Wine Hangover Cures - Sports Drinks

Many sports drinks not only contain water but many electrolyte ingredients.

Electrolytes help your mind work properly and keep your nerves running effectively.

Unfortunately, when you drink, you strip your body of electrolytes and make your hangover that much worse. 

Eat Some Eggs

Wine Hangover Cures - Eat Eggs

While overeating protein may not be an excellent choice for hangovers, eggs provide not only a healthy protein but can help provide other vitamins and minerals.

In addition, the healthy fats in eggs may also help give you a little more energy.

Food High In Sodium: Pickles, Miso Soup or Chicken Noodle Soup

Wine Hangover Cures - Sodium - Chicken Noodle Soup

While high-sodium foods aren’t always a great addition to your life, they’re a great choice during a hangover.

Sodium or salt is one of the essential electrolytes in your body, and pickles, miso soup, and chicken noodle soup help.

Sodium also helps you retain water, helping you stay hydrated for longer. Eating these foods will help facilitate the rehydration process.

Eat Bananas

Wine Hangover Cures - Eat Bananas

Instead of plowing through a breakfast sandwich after a night of wine drinking, you can instead try a banana.

While it’s not discussed often, drinking strips your body of potassium and leaves you in a pretty rough state.

Eating a banana during a hangover or while drinking helps replenish your potassium levels and processes the lingering alcohol through your body more quickly.

Crackers or Toast With Honey

Wine Hangover Cures - Crackers or Toast With Honey

Your stomach is a warzone during a hangover, which can make your recovery seem even harder.

Here’s a trick: avoid that junk food you probably enjoyed in college after a binge-drinking session and eat some crackers or toast instead.

These help lower blood sugar levels and make your recovery easier. In addition, honey contains many antioxidants that will further speed your recovery.

Eat Coconut

Wine Hangover Cures - Eat Coconut

Did you know that fresh coconut and coconut water have a high number of antioxidants that can help your body recover after a hangover?

It’s true! Pair this coconut water with your eggs in the morning, or shave fresh coconut into your eggs for a potent recovery tool.

Or combine them with your bananas to improve your recovery.

Drink Coffee

Wine Hangover Cures - Drink Coffee

A good cup of coffee may help with many hangover symptoms by helping to stimulate your body and reduce your fatigue.

However, you don’t want to overdo coffee because it can increase your stomach acidity and cause your hangover to worsen.

A single cup of coffee should be more than enough here, as any more may cause you more trouble.

Avoid These Things When Hungover

When going through a hangover, avoid these things to minimize your suffering:

  • Greasy Foods: Sorry McDonald’s hangover-recovery fans! Greasy foods are likely to upset your stomach by increasing its acidity and may include unhealthy ingredients, like fat, that make you feel sicker.
  • Acetaminophen or Tylenol: While some painkillers may help you recover from a hangover, Tylenol may only worsen the symptoms because it affects your liver function and slows your body’s alcohol processing speed. It may even damage your kidneys.
  • Exercising: Your body is already low on water, and you’re working out? You’ll only dehydrate yourself further and cause more trouble.
  • Dietary Mistakes: Drinking energy drinks, overeating protein, or enjoying orange juice (or any citrus juice) are all likely to cause more nausea by increasing your stomach acid and dehydrating you further.
  • Hair of the Dog: More alcohol won’t help your hangover but further dehydrate your body. You might temporarily feel some alcohol-related pain relief, which should quickly go away in minutes and leave you suffering.

Wine Hangover Cures Infographic

Wine Hangover Cures Chart Infographic

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Wine Hangover FAQ

What causes a wine hangover?

When you drink a lot of wine, you dehydrate your body and mind and strip them of vitamins and nutrients, causing your hangover. Wine may also be high in other chemicals that increase this dehydration, such as tannins.

How do you avoid a wine hangover?

Drink only one or two glasses of wine every day and match every drink with a glass of water. The water helps rehydrate your body and minimizes your hangover risk.

How long do wine hangovers last?

Depending on how much you drink, your hangover may last 8-24 hours, usually closer to a full day than not. However, severe binge-drinking may cause multi-day hangovers.

How do I get rid of a wine hangover?

Rehydrate your body and focus on giving yourself time to recover. Eat healthy foods and avoid unnecessary exercise to get your body’s vitamin balance back in shape.

How do you get rid of a wine headache fast?

Drink a lot of water, rest your body, and eat some healthy foods to recover quickly from a wine headache. Note how much wine you drank before getting the headache and cut your consumption below that amount the next time you drink.

Why do I get a headache after drinking wine?

Though wine headaches remain somewhat mysterious, dietitians believe that excessive grape-skin histamine and blood vessel dilation may trigger wine headaches before a hangover.

Emma Miller