It’s a pretty common notion that having a beer the morning after a night of heavy drinking will help quell the hangover roiling your stomach and jackhammering at your head—so common, it’s even worked its way into popular culture: have a little “hair of the dog that bit you.” Lil hair of the dog never hurt anyone, right? Well, sorry folks, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that morning beer isn’t going to help one bit.
Per Men’s Health:
No, guzzling another beer won’t cure your hangover, experts from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center warn. All it will do is mask the symptoms by temporarily raising your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) up—since hangover symptoms generally peak when your BAC levels falls back to zero. Rest, drinking more water, and taking a pain reliever can help, but the only real “cure” for a hangover is time. That means coffee doesn’t work either—all you’re doing is making yourself a wide-awake drunk, the experts say.
So essentially, by raising your BAC slightly enough to mask the oncoming hangover with a quick fix, you’re pretty much delaying the inevitable. That’s hangover’s a’comin, bro, and all you can do is batten down the hatches: have a fatty breakfast, take some Advil or Tylenol, and drink a bunch of water—after that morning beer, of course.
(h/t Men’s Health)