Dominique Williams
The Sacramento Bee
After working as a bartender for seven years, I’ve learned of and experimented with a slew of hangover cures to try to find the most effective one.
Want the bad news first? My conclusion: The only real hangover cure is time.
Your liver processes 1 ounce of alcohol per hour. So, if you down three shots of tequila to calm your nerves before you step on the dance floor, be prepared to wait three hours before the effects from those shots are gone.
Not the reality I wanted, either. Trust me.
I have, however, found three new things this year that have aided with the symptoms of a hangover. I still call these “cures” because they’ve made me feel five times better than I did when I woke up with makeup still on and a throbbing headache.
Alka Seltzer hangover relief
Before you let someone “Buy U a Drank,” equip yourself with the new T-Pain and Alka-Seltzer Hangover Relief tablet.
The Florida rapper partnered with the medicine brand in late June to “show you how to bounce back from a fun night” with this fast-acting remedy.
Drop the tablets in a glass of water, listen to them “plop, plop, fizz, fizz,” and get relief from your body aches, headache and mental fatigue in as little as 15 minutes.
“I’m always looking for hangover relief, so why not find a product that works for me and sing a song about it?” T-Pain said in an Instagram video of him recording his remix of the classic Alka-Seltzer jingle. “Now that we have this new product, it’s been a life saver. I can actually get up and start getting stuff done.”
The best part: You can buy 20 tablets for just $5.99 at your local CVS. Also available at Target, Walgreens, Walmart and Amazon.
Ice cold water
A new TikTok trend has taken the social media site by storm — or freeze, shall we say — and has viewers running to their kitchens to find a head-sized bowl and cubes of ice.
Creators say dipping your face in a bowl of iced water “gets rid of a hangover in 30 seconds.”
I find this “cure” interesting because sometimes when I wake up after an especially fun night out, I get the urge to submerge myself in a bath or swimming pool. I’ve never been able to explain it, but I feel the connection with this new hack.
After trying it, it quickly moved to the top of my lift of remedies. Plus, it’s virtually free!
Liquid IV
Liquid IV didn’t come into production in 2022, but the electrolyte drink has gained popularity this year as an effective hangover cure to aid with faster hydration.
The product markets itself as containing 3x the electrolytes of traditional sports drinks with five essential vitamins. It also claims to “hydrate faster and more efficiently than water alone.”
The sticks come in 15 flavors including strawberry, watermelon and blueberry lavender. It comes as a powder that you mix with 16 ounces of water. You can drink as many servings as needed.
The brand also produces an energy multiplier that is similar to the hydration multiplier, but with 100mg of caffeine.
It has a blend of Coffeeberry® Energy Extract, CognatIQ™ Coffee Fruit Extract, and L-Theanine for “physical energy and a cognitive boost.”
They even have a site-wide 30% off sale for the end of the year. Or, you can run to Costco or any local pharmacy if you need them faster than they can ship.
If you find yourself drinking more than the daily recommended amount of alcohol this New Year’s Eve, use these three remedies to ensure you don’t enter the new year with last year’s hangover.
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