Water can help prevent hangovers by diluting the liquor in your system and keeping you hydrated. Alcohol is a diuretic, a substance that constantly makes the drinker have to urinate, which can drain fluids from the body. When too many essential fluids, like water, are drained from the body, a hangover results. Keeping oneself full of water, the primary fluid the body needs, is essential to avoiding a hangover, or lessening the effects of one already in progress. Consuming water alongside liquor will also help your body fight liquor’s effects.

What Is a Hangover?

Many people do not know quite what a hangover is or how it is caused, only that it involves a massive headache and sluggishness. When we consume liquor, we are inviting toxins into our systems. To rid itself of these toxins, the body urinates constantly. However, as we rid ourselves of these toxins, we also eject water from the body. If you do not replenish this fluid, then you will become dehydrated. According to Discovery Health, being dehydrated before consuming liquor can also increase the likelihood of a bad hangover. When dehydrated, the brain shrinks a bit and moves farther away from the skull; this is what causes the massive headaches that come with hangovers.

How Water Helps a Hangover

As a hangover is basically dehydration, water is the logical remedy for a hangover. After a night of drinking, consuming a few glasses of water before bed will greatly reduce, if not eliminate, your chances of having a hangover the next morning. If you are already hung over, the best way to reduce your symptoms is to consume as much water is possible, as the hangover will continue until you are re-hydrated.  Additionally, if the drinker takes some sort of headache medication with the water he or she drinks at the end of the night, they can be further assured of a pain-free morning.

When Drinking Alcohol

Rotating between an alcoholic drink and a non-alcoholic drink, like water, will greatly reduce your chances of having a hangover the next day. This is because water not only decreases the dehydration associated with alcoholic beverages, but also helps you consume less liquor. While the best way to avoid a hangover is of course to avoid consuming spirits entirely, this is not always possible. Instead, make sensible choices to make when drinking liquor: don’t consume too much liquor, don’t consume liquor on an empty stomach, and make sure to drink plenty of water before, during, and after alcohol consumption.