It suppresses the action of vasopressin—a hormone that helps regulate the fluid balance in your body. Vasopressin sends signals from your brain to your kidneys to dictate how much fluid is removed from your body as urine. When this hormone is suppressed, your kidneys remove extra fluids by increasing urination. Without replenishing electrolytes, the body won’t be able to utilize the water you consume, leaving you dehydrated despite drinking plenty of fluids.

How long does it take to rehydrate your body after drinking alcohol?

Coffee, tea, and soda contain caffeine, a central nervous system stimulant that acts as a natural diuretic to increase urine production (1). While the amount of alcohol you consume is the main determinant of how dehydrated you’ll eventually become, you’re better off starting a drinking session well hydrated as opposed to already dehydrated. Binge drinking is when a person consumes an excessive amount of alcohol within a short period of time.

• Having a few drinks can be fun, but feeling dehydrated or hungover is not.
• In particular, it’s best to enjoy caffeinated energy drinks and alcohol in moderation and consume them alongside water to stay properly hydrated.
• Let’s delve deeper into the science behind dehydration, how alcohol dehydrates us, and ways we can treat and avoid excessive dehydration from alcohol.
• Alcohol delays stomach emptying, which can cause vomiting, a sure way to become dehydrated 1.

How to Rehydrate After Drinking

Together, ethanol and acetaldehyde cause a tangle of issues your body has to deal with when you drink. As I said before, the issues I listed are not comprehensive, but they paint a pretty good picture. Coffee generally has about 95–165 mg of caffeine per 8-ounce (oz) cup. After all, waking up on Christmas morning with screaming kids and a raging hangover is the opposite of holiday cheer. The studies that found milk to be hydrating didn’t test other “milks,” like soy, coconut or almond, but the Cleveland Clinic recommended the unsweetened ones for kids as a way to keep hydrated in summer. Plain water is the best way to hydrate, no second guessing necessary.

What’s the Least Dehydrating Alcohol?

Lynn brings her expertise in nutrition, exercise, and behavior change to her work in helping people reach their individual health and fitness goals. In addition to writing for Everyday Health, she has also written for websites and publications like Food and Health Communications, Today’s Dietitian, iVillage.com, and Rodale Press. She has a passion for healthy, nutrient-dense, great-tasting food and for being outdoors as much as possible — she can often be found running or hiking, and has completed a marathon in every state. Water is obviously the best source of fluid, but realistically, do other beverages, including alcohol, count toward your daily quota, and if so, how much? Here is everything you need to know about alcohol and hydration. Reaching for hydrating beverages is the best way to alleviate a hangover’s unpleasant effects — but not every liquid fits this bill.

• Participants who consumed over 500 milligrams (mg) of caffeine daily showed disruptions in fluid balance from the diuretic effects of coffee.
• Above 5,000 feet elevation, your body can lose fluids almost twice as fast as it can at sea level.
• However, the effects of certain types of alcohol may differ, as drinking 2 servings of beer did not have a significant effect (11, 12).
• The amount of alcohol you consume will influence the symptoms you experience.

Hydrate with Minerals and Electrolytes

To rehydrate your body after alcohol, it’s crucial to drink plenty of water and consider using an electrolyte powder to replenish electrolytes lost through increased urination. Taking electrolytes before drinking alcoholic drinks can prevent alcohol-related electrolyte depletion and dehydration. In addition, increased urination can cause the loss of electrolytes, especially potassium and sodium, which are crucial for maintaining the body’s fluid balance.

However, if a person has a beer, wine, or other alcoholic beverage, certain things can be done to avoid dehydration. A cocktail with vodka and soda is less dehydrating than a shot of vodka. If you’ve been drinking and are experiencing alcohol dehydration symptoms, you need to restore your body’s fluid balance. Here’s how to rehydrate properly and recover from alcohol dehydration. A good way to limit your overall alcohol consumption, and thus limit alcohol’s dehydrating effects, is to alternate alcoholic drinks with glasses of water.

Stoutz emphasizes the importance of hydrating before and during drinking, which can minimize how dehydrated you is vodka dehydrating become. “Essentially, when you’re dehydrated, you’ll feel alcohol’s effects sooner and for longer,” Pfau says. Alcohols like whiskey and brandy have high levels of congeners, including tannins and acetaldehyde. These might lead to dehydration more quickly, according to a 2010 study 8 9.

A diuretic is a substance that causes the body to produce more urine. You’ve no doubt noticed that when you drink, you have to pee more. Chronic heavy drinking can result in high blood pressure, which is a leading cause of kidney disease. It can also weaken immunity, increasing a person’s risk of infections.

Electrolyte imbalance can exacerbate dehydration and worsen the unpleasant aftereffects of drinking alcohol, including headaches, low energy, muscle aches, and poor sleep. The research shows, essentially, that drinking an initial amount of alcohol will cause more urine output than drinking the same initial amount of water (or other non-alcoholic liquid). However, continuing to drink alcohol after that initial drink does not cause any more urine output than continuing to drink water. It is important to note that having higher blood sugar from consuming very sugary drinks may encourage the body to eliminate the excess sugar but may not necessarily cause dehydration. A 2020 study notes that dehydration may increase glucagon, a hormone used to maintain glucose or sugar levels in the blood.

The electrolytes, a science-y word for salts, in sports drinks can make hydration more effective. Again, watch the sugar and carb content, especially if you’re not working out. Unless you’re running a marathon, one rehydration drink is probably enough.