Not really — and that answer comes from the research rather than from modesty. Drinking water alongside alcohol is worth doing, but the studies that have looked directly at whether it prevents a hangover find the effect is small, and that the two things are less connected than everyone assumes.
That is an awkward finding for a company that sells a drink you mix with water. We would rather tell you than have you find out from someone else.
What the research actually found
The intuitive story is that alcohol dehydrates you, dehydration causes the hangover, so water prevents it. The first part is true. The rest has not held up.
A 2024 review in Alcohol went back over this directly. Its findings, in order of how much they should change your mind:
- Alcohol is a diuretic. The mechanism is hormonal and covered in full here; the short version is that your kidneys stop being told to keep water, so more of it leaves.
- The excess output is front-loaded — the review reports it concentrated in roughly the first couple of hours of drinking, rather than spread across the night.
- The resulting dehydration is "usually mild and short-lasting."
- In the placebo-controlled work it surveys, no significant dehydration was detected during the hangover state itself.
- The authors' conclusion: hangover and dehydration are "two co-occurring but independent consequences" of drinking.
Independent. Not cause and effect. Both happen, and fixing one does not resolve the other.
So why does everyone say to drink water?
Because it is good advice, for reasons that are not the reason usually given.
Alternating water with drinks slows you down — the minutes spent on the water are minutes not spent on the next drink, and dose is the single biggest factor in how you feel. It also keeps you from arriving at bedtime genuinely short on fluid, which is unpleasant on its own terms whatever else is going on.
Both of those are real benefits. Neither is "water prevents a hangover."
If it is not dehydration, what is it?
Two things, with better evidence behind them than the water story ever had.
Inflammation. A review in Alcohol and Alcoholism concluded that inflammatory factors and mitochondrial dysfunction are the most likely drivers of hangover severity. The same review notes that the acetaldehyde your liver produces while breaking alcohol down — a compound the NIAAA describes as highly toxic — has largely cleared by the time symptoms peak. The chemistry that started it is finished while you are still feeling it.
Sleep. Pooled trial evidence shows alcohol reliably degrades the second half of the night, at doses far lower than most people assume, and the damage scales with the dose. Time in bed and sleep obtained stop being the same number. We have written that up properly in the timing article, because it is also the reason when you drink matters more than most protocols admit.
Neither of these responds to a glass of water.
Does adding electrolytes change the answer?
Partly, and less than the marketing suggests — including ours.
You do lose minerals in the fluid, and putting them back is worth doing. But minerals by themselves are not the upgrade over water that the category implies — the retention advantage turns out to depend on a second ingredient travelling alongside the salt, which most of the shelf either omits or hides. We have laid out that criterion in detail, because it is the one that separates products.
So an electrolyte drink is the better vehicle for the mineral job. That is a real benefit and a narrow one. It is not a different answer to the question in the title.
What has the most evidence behind it
In order:
- Drink less. Unwelcome, unbeatable.
- Protect your sleep. Finish earlier; the second half of the night is the part alcohol costs you.
- Eat. Slows absorption and supplies the carbohydrate that helps fluid stay put.
- Drink water anyway. For pacing and for comfort — just not as insurance.
- Replace what you measurably lost. Fluid and minerals, once the night is over.
- Give it time. The clearance rate is fixed and nothing on sale changes it.
Frequently asked questions
How much water should I drink while drinking alcohol? A glass alongside each drink is the usual rule, and its main benefit is pacing. There is no established volume that prevents a hangover, because no volume reliably does.
Does drinking a lot of water before bed help? It helps you start the night less short on fluid, and it is easier to act on at midnight than at 7am. It will not offset the sleep you are about to lose.
Is coconut water or a sports drink better than plain water? For replacing minerals, they are a better vehicle. For preventing a hangover, the honest answer is the same as for water.
Why do I wake up thirsty if I am not really dehydrated? Thirst responds largely to the concentration of your blood rather than to total body water, so it can be triggered by fluid shifts that are real but modest. Feeling parched is genuine; it is not proof that dehydration is what is making you feel bad.
So is hydration pointless? No — it is just narrower than advertised. Replacing fluid and minerals is worth doing on its own terms. It is being sold as something bigger than it is.
Where Snake Oil fits
A stick mixed into 16 ounces of water: 370mg sodium with 5g of carbohydrate, potassium, magnesium, zinc, the B lineup, vitamins C and E, and a glutamine-led amino acid blend.†
That is the fluid-and-minerals corner of the picture — the corner this article has just spent a thousand words arguing is smaller than the category pretends.
We would rather sell you something narrow and true than something broad and unprovable. The name is a joke; the label is not.
†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Related reading: How to rehydrate fast · Do hangover supplements actually work?