Do you drink regularly? If so, you’re probably one of the many who experiences a regular hangover. 61% of drinkers reported they experience almost three hangovers a month.
If you made the mistake of drinking before a long day of work, you’re in for a terrible experience.
But your office probably has one beverage that can help your hangover: coffee! But is coffee good for a hangover? Here’s the truth on drinking coffee when hungover and other alternatives.
Is Coffee Good for a Hangover? What We Do Know
Coffee curing a hangover is an old wives’ tale. Not only is there no evidence supporting coffee as an effective hangover but drinking too much caffeine after alcohol actually has some negative effects. Here are a few to be careful of.
Coffee Could Increase Your Headache
A pounding headache is one of the many negative hangover symptoms. For some, coffee helps decrease their headache. For others, coffee makes their headache worse. This is because of your hydration.
When you drink alcohol, the alcohol deprives you of hydration. Your head feels the first effects of this; to hydrate your body, your body takes water from your head.
Your head results in a pounding pain because your head needs that water to function.
Like alcohol, caffeine also furthers hinder your hydration. This will only leave you more dehydrated and will increase your headache.
But others feel better after drinking a cup of coffee. This is likely due to caffeine addiction. A headache is one of the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal. In this scenario, drinking coffee will help decrease your headache.
Coffee Won’t Sober You Up
What if you go into work a little drunk from the night before? You probably think some coffee will help perk you up for your shift. While the caffeine helps you stay more alert, it doesn’t slow down the effects of alcohol.
Can You Drink Coffee At Work When Hungover? Yes!
While these effects may seem like drinking coffee at work while hungover is not a good idea, you can still enjoy your morning cup of Joe while at work. You just need to be smart about it. Here’s some advice to follow.
Only Drink a Little Coffee
Because coffee can pose positive and negative side effects, if you need to drink coffee, only drink a little bit. Start with one cup. Wait an hour. If you feel better, try drinking another cup.
You can also drink one cup of coffee and use other caffeine alternatives such as tea. For example, get a cup of coffee from a coffee delivery service and then drink tea throughout the day. Find out more on this coffee delivery method.
Drink Coffee With Water
If you’ll need more than one cup of coffee, make sure there’s a glass of water also on your desk. Alternate between drinking both. You can also grab coconut water instead; the electrolytes will help your body retain the hydration.
Take Medicine or Supplements Before
To treat the hangover symptoms, there are many medications and even supplements that will help. Take these before your cup of coffee to ensure you’ll feel better by the time you get to work.
You’ll want to be wary of aspirin, ibuprofen or acetaminophen; these medications have to pass through your already-damaged liver, so they won’t be as effective or will put you at risk for liver damage.
But you can take other medications, such as anti-nausea medicine.
In addition, supplements also help. Take a multivitamin and replenish your body with the vitamins you lost. You should especially focus on taking vitamins B and C.
You can also take milk thistle before or after drinking to protect your liver from damage.
Make Your Coffee the Right Way
We all love lots of sugar and flavorings in our coffee. But these fun coffee drinks aren’t the best option for your hangover coffee. Make sure you make your hangover coffee the right way.
First off, mix your coffee with milk. Milk has essential vitamins such as calcium and vitamin D that your body is lacking. You can use cream, but cream doesn’t have all of the health benefits of milk.
What about sugar? While your blood sugar drops when you drink alcohol, packing your coffee with sugar isn’t always the smartest choice. Try and limit your sugar as much as possible. In addition, you should also avoid sugary flavorings.
Do’s and Don’ts While Hungover At Work
Drinking coffee isn’t your only dilemma when hungover at work. Here are a few other do’s and don’ts.
Eat More, If You Can
Having food in your stomach helps absorb any alcohol still in your stomach. But you have to be smart about what you eat. Another old wives’ tale is greasy and fatty foods are best for a hangover. That’s not entirely true.
It’s best to replenish the vitamins and minerals your body is lacking. Keep some fruit on your desk and pick at it throughout the day. You can also snack on carrot sticks and celery.
On your lunch break, eat a meal with vitamin B6. You can find this vitamin in fish, poultry, potatoes, and liver.
Hydrate!
We said this before and we’ll say this again: stay hydrated. Drink water, coconut water, even pickle juice if that’s what you like. Your body needs hydration and this will ultimately help you feel better.
Go to Sleep After Work
Now the work day is done and you feel better. What’s next? Go to the bar with your co-workers? Nope — go to sleep! Your body is exhausted after not only a long night of drinking but also a long work day hungover.
Sleeping the whole night will ensure your body is completely recharged for the next day.
Don’t Drink Before Work!
No matter where you work, coming into work hungover is never fun. You may think drinking coffee helps your hangover. But is coffee good for a hangover?
While it’s not the best hangover cure, there are ways coffee can help perk you up so you can get through your day at work.
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