Does Ginger Help With Hangover Symptoms?

As Matt Haig writes in The Humans, “If getting drunk was how people forgot they were mortal, then hangovers were how they remembered.” The morning-after aftermath of the revelry from the previous night is nothing new. And there’s certainly no shortage of hangover “cures” out there — ever since booze has been in the picture, people have been drinking pickle juice, swallowing raw eggs, and rubbing lemons under their armpits in an attempt to avoid “paying the piper” (or, at least, to get a discount!).

While many hangover remedies are downright bizarre (most of us would opt out of wearing socks soaked in alcohol, although some swear by it), others are more plausible. One classic cure is ginger. But is ginger good for hangover relief? Or is it another myth? Let’s find out!

Hangovers: Behind the Scenes

There are several biological processes that add up to the dreaded hangover. And while the only true “cure” for a hangover is time, there are a few remedies — including ginger — we can employ to treat the symptoms.

What are those symptoms exactly? For a deep dive, check out “What Exactly Happens During a Hangover?” For now, here’s the gist, according to the NIAAA:

• Dehydration. Yes, alcohol is a liquid — but it only makes us more dehydrated in the long run, causing us to wake up parched and thirsty. By suppressing vasopressin, a hormone that tells our kidneys to hold on to water, alcohol leaves us feeling parched and dehydrated the next day.
• Anxiety and irritability. Alcohol boosts the reward neurochemical dopamine responsible for that initial euphoria we feel after a few sips. However, what goes up must come down — a post-party crash is inevitable, and the hangover often leaves us feeling grouchy and irritable due to the neurotransmitter imbalance alcohol leaves in its wake. As a depressant, alcohol also boosts the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA and lowers glutamate, its excitatory counterpart, causing initial relaxation. However, once again, the effect is short-lived, giving way to next-day rebound anxiety.
• Sleep disruption and fatigue. While the depressant effects of alcohol might initially send us off into dreamland, we’re in for a rough ride: the rebound effect makes our sleep restless and fragmented. Even if we spent eight hours (or much more) under the covers, we wake up with that groggy “I’ve been run over by a truck” feeling made worse by dehydration and blood glucose disruption associated with drinking.
• Muscle aches. Even if we lounged in a beanbag chair all evening, we might wake up with our muscles aching — and not in that pleasant “I had a great workout” kind of way. These aches are the result of inflammation, which amps up with alcohol in the picture. The acetaldehyde exposure and dehydration caused by drinking add to the effect.
• Headache. Sometimes our head starts hurting well before we’re even done drinking — a phenomenon known as the “cocktail headache.” Picking up where the cocktail headache left off, the infamous hangover headache is another unpleasant reminder of the night before — largely as a result of dehydration and inflammation.
• Nausea and stomach pain. Alcohol messes with the lining of the digestive tract, leading to irritation. The irritation in the GI tract leads to that morning-after queasiness, vomiting, stomach pain, and constipation.
• Sweating. Time to change the sheets again! Alcohol can lead to night sweats, making the next-day hangover extra sticky. Part of the reason has to do with the body trying to get rid of all that acetaldehyde — a toxic byproduct of alcohol metabolism, which wreaks havoc on the body as it builds up.

And while it might feel as if the hangover will last forever, rest assured — it will end within a few hours, or at least after a good night’s sleep. That said, there are things we can do to make the road a bit easier. And ginger might be one of them!

Meet the Mighty Ginger

Known for its trademark spicy kick, ginger — a relative of cardamom and turmeric officially known as Zingiber officinale — has been a pantry staple for generations. The name comes from the Sanskrit “srngavera,” meaning “horn root” — a nod to its knobby knuckled appearance. While ginger is great for making a flavorful stir-fry, zesty smoothie, or festive Christmas cookies, it also has medicinal properties. The power lies in gingerols — natural components that give this root medicinal properties and make it so popular among Ayurvedic practitioners.

Ginger has been a traditional medicine go-to in ​​Southeast Asia, India, and China for over 5,000 years. Confucius was said to eat it with every meal, ancient Chinese sailors brought it on board to ward off scurvy, and the ancient Romans (at least the ones who were rich enough to afford it) used it to treat kidney disease. 

Ginger’s popularity around Europe skyrocketed during the Middle Ages — it topped the list of the many potential cures for the plague and earned a place at the table along with salt and pepper (at least while the plague made its way through the continent). It was also used to treat anything from colds and nausea to arthritis, migraines, and hypertension. And the price only increased with time — back in the day, a pound of ginger could set you back the price of an entire sheep! Luckily, today you can get a pound for much cheaper!

Now let’s take a look at ginger and alcohol hangovers!

Does Ginger Help With Hangover Symptoms?

While we don’t have to worry about the plague anymore (at least not as much), our odds of waking up with a hangover after a boozy night are still high. Mighty ginger to the rescue! Let’s take a closer look at how it can ease us into the day.

1. Easing Digestive Symptoms

Alcohol is a notorious stomach irritant and causes it to release extra hydrochloric acid. Over time, the irritation can lead to ulcers and gastritis. The short-term fallout, however, is usually nausea, bloating, and constipation — some of the most unpleasant symptoms of the morning-after hangover.

Ginger, in turn, is a well-known GI hero and powerful antiemetic. Antiemetics are used to ease nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy, pregnancy, motion sickness, and anything else that might leave us feeling queasy. In fact, some studies found that ginger works better than Dramamine to help us find our “sea legs” and calm the nausea associated with seasickness! Here’s how ginger helps calm the stomach:

• Ginger breaks up intestinal gas. While alcohol leaves us feeling bloated, this carminative effect (removing gas) helps “deflate the balloon,” providing instant relief. 
• It gets things moving in the GI tract. Studies show that the gingerol and shogaol compounds found in ginger stimulate the production of digestive enzymes, easing bloating and providing relief from alcohol-related constipation and nausea.
• It might interact with intestinal serotonin receptors. Did you know that 95% of our serotonin is produced in the gut? In addition to regulating our mood, serotonin plays a role in the sensations of nausea and vomiting, and the disruptive effects of alcohol on serotonin levels also contribute to the morning-after nausea. Ginger, in turn, helps undo some of the damage by binding to 5-HT3 receptors in the intestinal tract, which play a role in nausea, vomiting, and other sensations.

In addition to helping soothe the stomach, ginger’s GI powers help with some other pesky hangover symptoms. Plus, it has other powers as well!

2. Clearing Up Brain Fog

We all know that “thinking and drinking” are a tough combo — the depressant effects of alcohol make it hard to follow a conversation, find our keys, or remember what happened in that episode of Law and Order we started watching. And more often than not, we wake up with lingering brain fog that makes our thoughts fuzzy and disjointed.

The reason for the morning-after brain fog has to do with dehydration as well as with the disruption of our brain’s neurotransmitter balance. Here’s how ginger might help:

• Ginger protects the brain. Studies have demonstrated that ginger has neuroprotective effects by improving synaptic connections and decreasing loss of functioning associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.
• It enhances cognitive function. A number of studies show that ginger significantly improves learning and memory, which helps offset some of the effects of brain fog. The cognitive benefits are attributed to ginger’s support of the cholinergic system (which is responsible for attention and cognitive processing), as well as to its anti-inflammatory properties, which decrease inflammation in the brain.
• Its digestive benefits also help the brain. Remember the gut-brain axis? By supporting healthy brain-gut communication, ginger can indirectly help clear the brain fog that a night of overindulgence leaves behind.

And while ginger won’t magically turn us into Einstein, it helps restore balance and give us an extra mental boost. It might be just what we need to get going and start the day!

3. Soothing Muscle Aches and Headaches

Remember how we said alcohol causes inflammation, which contributes to the morning-after aches and pains? Science says there are a few pathways at play. For one thing, alcohol makes our gut “leaky” by causing the intestinal lining to become more permeable, leading toxins to seep out into the bloodstream. Our immune system fires up in response, resulting in inflammation.

Moreover, alcohol metabolism triggers the production of so-called reactive oxygen species (ROS). These free radicals are unstable molecules that can damage cells in the body and promote inflammation.

Finally, alcohol interferes with the immune system directly, leading to the production of cytokines — small proteins that act as messengers in the immune system and trigger inflammation in response to a threat.

Enter ginger! Here’s how it helps reduce inflammation:

• Ginger reduces oxidative stress. With ginger in the picture, those free radicals that alcohol sets loose are up against a tough opponent. Research shows that the gingerol, shogaol, and paradol compounds in ginger have strong antioxidant properties that neutralize free radicals and decrease inflammation.
• It inhibits cytokine production. Ginger puts the breaks on the production of certain cytokines, keeping unnecessary inflammation at bay.
• It enhances anti-inflammatory pathways. Finally, ginger boosts the body’s natural anti-inflammatory molecules directly, preventing excessive inflammation.

The result? Those muscle aches and headaches might simmer down a bit with ginger in the picture. Plus, the anti-inflammatory properties also help ease the digestive symptoms even further by dampening the effect of leaky gut syndrome. It’s pretty cool how ginger’s helpful properties amplify each other!

4. Handling Hangxiety and Easing Irritation

You may be familiar with waking up to that indescribable “ugh” feeling of being sick and anxious at the same time after drinking too much. That’s hangxiety, and it’s largely the result of our brain trying to counteract alcohol’s depressant effects by releasing dynorphin, a neurotransmitter that leaves us feeling on edge for hours afterwards. Plus, alcohol messes with our heart, initially causing blood pressure to fall before leading to a rebound spike. 

Moreover, it increases our heart rate and sometimes leads to alcohol-related arrhythmia (a.k.a. “holiday heart syndrome”). With the delicate workings of our brain chemistry and heart rhythm disrupted in this way, no wonder we wake up feeling like we’re ready to jump out of our skin!

And while ginger won’t wipe out the jitters and blues completely, it can help. Here’s how:

• Ginger helps regulate GABA. Studies show that ginger helps reduce seizure thresholds by regulating GABA, the neurotransmitter disrupted by alcohol and epilepsy alike. The result? We feel calmer and are less prone to alcohol-related seizures that can be brought on by alcohol withdrawal or a particularly intense bout of drinking.
• It reduces stress by lowering cortisol levels. Science shows that ginger helps reduce cortisol — the stress hormone that puts us into “fight or flight” mode, draining the body’s precious resources. And while it won’t undo alcohol’s effects completely, that little extra boost of resilience can make a difference.
• It calms the heart. One of the most powerful science-backed effects of ginger? It helps offset alcohol-related heart damage and promote heart health by lowering blood pressure and improving cholesterol levels.

In the end, hangxiety might be something we have to ride out. But ginger will make the ride a bit easier! 

5. Fighting Fatigue

Finally, ginger can put some extra pep in our step by boosting our energy levels sapped by the dehydration, inflammation, blood sugar fluctuations, and sleep disruption related to drinking. Known for its energy-boosting properties, it can get us going a number of different ways:

• Ginger enhances blood circulation. Ginger gets our blood flowing, leaving us feeling warm and helping ease the shivers we might wake up with after a night of sweaty sleep. The result? We’re less likely to hibernate under the covers and might feel more empowered to face the day.
• It helps regulate blood sugar levels. The fatigue we feel after a night of heavy drinking is partially related to blood sugar fluctuations. While booze raises blood sugar in the long run, in the short term it leads to a crash as our body reroutes its resources to alcohol metabolism. Ginger, in turn, helps keep blood sugar stable by improving our sensitivity to insulin — the hormone that helps transfer sugar from our blood into our cells.
• It helps our overall energy levels. The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of ginger take our overall vitality up a notch. When everything in our body is running smoothly, it’s that much easier to face the day! 

So when a hangover is leaving us feeling sluggish, ginger might be just the thing to get the momentum going. And once we’re up and about, it’s likely that movement will keep making us feel better (more on this later!).

Ways To Use Ginger for Hangovers

Planning to add ginger to your post-party recovery kit? Here are some science-backed strategies to try:

• Drink ginger tea for hangover relief. Add some lemon and honey to make it a soothing sweet treat, especially if it’s a chilly morning. (Anywhere from one to three cups per day is safe for most people.)
• Make ginger popsicles. Feeling creative? Freeze ginger tea to make a fun popsicle to calm the stomach and hydrate at the same time.
• Take ginger supplements for an extra boost. Ginger supplements come in gum, lozenge, capsule, and powder form and are a convenient way to get your ginger fix. Perfect if you’re on the go and need a quick solution! (Most supplements contain around 150-500 mg of ginger, which is within the safe limits.)
• Add ginger to your plate. Add some grated ginger to soups, stir-frys, or any other dish you fancy. You can also chew pickled ginger, make ginger smoothies, or even ginger shots!

A note of caution: always check with your doctor before adding supplements to your routine. While it’s safe for most, ginger has some blood-thinning properties that might make it unsafe for people with bleeding disorders.

When Ginger Is Just Not Enough 

That said, there are times when ginger alone doesn’t cut it. Is there anything else that might help with hangovers? Absolutely! For a detailed look, check out “Symptoms of Hangovers and How To Deal With Them.” For now, here are the highlights:

• Stay hydrated. Much of the hangover misery comes from dehydration, and the best way to relieve it is good old H2O. (If you’re not a fan of the plain stuff, add some electrolyte powder for some flavor, along with extra hydrating power!)
• Fuel up the smart way. You might be tempted to head straight for that leftover pizza or cake, but it’s best to go for whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. To learn more, check out “Hangover 101: What To Eat and Drink for Quick Recovery.”
• Get moving. Exercise might be the last thing on your mind when you wake up with a hangover, but trust us — some movement will help you feel better. Think gentle stretching, yoga, or a refreshing walk outside.
• Take a pain reliever. While you’re stocking up on ginger supplements at the drugstore, you might as well grab some aspirin or Advil as well. (Just stay away from Tylenol if booze is lingering in your system, since acetaminophen is also processed by the liver.)
• Keep an eye out for new developments. Researchers are always hard at work, and lately there’s been some talk about creative hangover fixes. Check out “Swiss Researchers Develop Alcohol Neutralizing Gel for Hangovers,” and keep your eye out for cutting-edge hangover cures!

Want to learn more? Check out “How To Get Rid of a Hangover Headache” and “How To Stop Hangovers” for some additional tips.

Making Hangovers a Thing of the Past

In the end, the best way to say goodbye to hangovers for good is to cut back on drinking — or even take a break altogether. And Reframe is here to help you do just that! Join forces with our vibrant community of like-minded people who’ve been able to make hangovers a thing of the past. But keep those ginger chews in your pocket in case that Uber ride gets too bumpy!