Curious if coffee can aid you on the dreaded day-after? As a supplement company with years of research, we'll delve into can coffee help a hangover, the science behind it, and discovering if it may help give morning relief.
Experiencing a hangover after a night of revelry can leave you feeling sluggish and irritable. Many wonder if a cup of coffee can provide recovery from this post-party slump.
Caffeine is commonly the focus of this debate, assuming that the caffeine can help alleviate a hangover. We'll get into the science behind this theory and if it's true or not.
A hangover is the unwelcome aftermath of overindulging in alcohol. When you consume alcohol, it triggers various effects on your body that can lead to a hangover the next day.
One study particularly in South Korea on hangovers has provided much clarity. It found that elevated levels of cytokines in the body from a hangover, which is an inflammatory response.¹ This is among many other factors that may contribute to a hangover.
Here's the main factors that may cause a hangover:
Understanding these physiological effects can help us understand can coffee help a hangover.
Maybe, based on the science we found little research to show coffee can help a hangover, but one study the showed coffee could play a beneficial role.
First off, in our estimation coffee can ward off alcohol-indued fatigue due to the caffeine.
While no studies proved coffee could help a hangover, one study pointed to caffeine playing a key role. When mixed with over-the-counter (OTC NSAIDs) drugs such as Aspirin or Ibuprofen, it was shown to help with the head-pounding after effects of alcohol by aiding to block acetate.²
Here's the findings:
Based on these findings, caffeine alone in coffee won't cure a hangover, but could help with some of the effects. By combining it with a NSAID drug for pain relief, benefits to a hangover and headache can be observed as studied.
Coffee can be both good and bad for a hangover.
Overall, coffee can be good or bad for a hangover. We believe there's so many factors that contribute to a hangover, you'll have to test its effectiveness for yourself.
No, based on the caffeine research, it may aid with hangover symptoms such as malaise and fatigue but not the hangover headache.
The specific study is done not on coffee, rather on the combination of caffeine and pain killer drugs (like Aspirin). The pain killer drug plays a specific role with the headache, so it does not appear that coffee on its own would be effective.
Surprisingly, caffeine in itself can cause hangover symptoms from sources like coffee, noted as a caffeine hangover.¹²
A caffeine hangover usually happens 12-24 hours after consumption, like from your last cup of coffee. And it's usually related to a high caffeine amount, but can happen with moderate amounts.
Dr Bal Athwal explains that while caffeine such as from coffee can constrict the brain’s blood vessels, a break causes blood vessels to dilate and increased blood flow.¹²
Caffeine Hangover Symptoms:¹²
This caffeine hangover problem creates concern for using caffeinated coffee for hangovers, with some risk that it could cause one.
Yes, coffee can be good after drinking alcohol, specifically due to the caffeine content.
The combination of caffeine and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication was found to be most effective about 4 hours after drinking.⁴ This is due to it helping to block acetate when levels are most likely to spike after drinking, which is found to be a potential culprit in the negative effects of alcohol.
A small group of researchers devoted themselves to the science of a hangover for 5-6 years.¹ With ground-breaking discoveries, WIRED magazine revealed surprising facts on what helps, and doesn't help, a hangover.
In conclusion when searching can coffee help a hangover, these surprising facts can help you combat your next hangover and also know what doesn't work.
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SOURCES:
1. Everything Science Knows About Hangovers—And How to Cure Them
https://www.wired.com/2014/05/hangover-cure/
2. Acetate Causes Alcohol Hangover Headache in Rats
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&context=neurologyfp
3. And the definitive hangover cure is ... plain old coffee and aspirin, actually
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/body-odd/definitive-hangover-cure-plain-old-coffee-aspirin-actually-flna1c9386852
4. Is coffee the real cure for a hangover?
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19942-is-coffee-the-real-cure-for-a-hangover/
5. Does caffeine treat or trigger headaches?
https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/does-caffeine-treat-or-trigger-headaches
6. The Link Between Caffeine and Headaches
https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/triggers-caffeine
7. Diuretic Effects of Caffeine
https://healthfully.com/diuretic-effects-of-caffeine-6050463.html
8. How to Cure a Hangover
https://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2012/12/31/how-to-cure-a-hangover
9. Coffee As A Hangover Cure
https://sites.utexas.edu/think-twice/2019/03/07/coffee-as-a-hangover-cure/
10. Caffeine Doesn't Reverse the Negative Cognitive Impact of Alcohol, Study Shows
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2009/12/caffeine-alcohol
11. Can drinking coffee treat a hangover?
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/should-you-drink-coffee-on-a-hangover#does-coffee-help
12. Caffeine hangovers are real, and here’s how they impact your fitness regime
https://www.stylist.co.uk/fitness-health/nutrition/caffeine-hangovers-fitness-impact/623415
13. Can Coffee Help Cure a Hangover?
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/does-coffee-help-hangovers/
