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Comment by aqme28 | Hacker News Reader

Even water "works."

Come to think of it, how do you test a hangover cure drink? What is your control?

as a regular drunk and consumer of large quantities of water when drunk and when sober I have to admit Gatorade is so much more effective in preventing hangover headache compared to water, I couldn't believe it myself

I can't remember where I read this, but if you're prone to dehydration headaches (which is what a hangover headache typically is), don't drink water, or at least not just water.

Instead, mix a pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt into a quarter-glass of water. Mix well, drink. You'll rehydrate far better and faster with this than with just water.

This is probably why Gatorade works so much better than just water, but this method is far, far cheaper.

Around our parts 7up is consider medicinal if you've the flu as it's the right balance of sugar and salt in it. Hot toddy to prevent a cold. I'm not sure of any studies.

7up has 132 mg of sodium and 112 g of sugar per liter. Oral Rehydration Solution has 1000mg of sodium and 14g of sugar per liter. Gatorade is much closer with 440 mg of sodium and 58g of sugar per liter.

>if you're prone to dehydration headaches

Why does dehydration give a person a headache?

I heard that when organs lose water they shrink and your spinal cord pulls on your brain. However, then I'd think the back of your head would hurt more than the front.

Why can't the brain pull back to make things even? I'd think the brain should be smarter than the spinal cord.

Nonsense. If you're trolling, try harder. If not, I don't believe it anyway.

That's complete nonsense. The pain we feel is the result of the calcium hydroxylapatite matrix in our bones shrinking (up to 1.2% in cases of severe dehydration) due to lack of water. This leads to blockage of the Haversian canals which, obviously, inhibits the normal production of osteoblasts, irritating the periosteum which triggers the familiar aching feelings.

Google "why does dehydration cause headache" and see "the brain can temporarily contract or shrink from fluid loss. This mechanism causes the brain to pull away from the skull, causing pain and resulting in a dehydration headache"

not sure if I remember it correctly but what happens is alcohol molecules consume water molecules in your blood and your brain does not get the usual amount of water molecules delivered to it by the blood in circulation. I think.

Seems to be a likely reason.

Surprised no one's mentioned it... Electrolytes. That's why gatorade works. And it's also why putting some salt (+ sugar for flavor) in water works.

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