'Hair of the Dog' Cures a Hangover

Drinking more alcohol does not cure a hangover; it just delays it and digs the hole deeper. There is a sliver of truth to why it feels like it works: a hangover is partly your body in mini-withdrawal as the alcohol leaves your system, so topping up with more alcohol can briefly blunt those symptoms, the same way an addiction is briefly soothed by the thing causing it. But you have only pressed pause. The hangover is still waiting, now with more alcohol to process, more dehydration, and a delayed and often worse reckoning, plus you have nudged yourself toward a pattern of morning drinking that is its own problem. There is no good evidence hair of the dog actually shortens or resolves a hangover. The dull, unglamorous things that genuinely help are water, food, rest, and time. The morning beer just moves the bill to the afternoon, with interest.