If you wake up struggling in the morning from a hangover then you may reach for a coffee to help but does it do anything scientifically to cure your hangover?
The Science
In a nutshell coffee will not sober you up! Whether it's espresso or even a high dose of cold brew, coffee will not slow down the effects of alcohol on the body. The main elements in coffee may help wake you up and make you feel more alert but they won't reduce the alcohol content in your body.
How Coffee Could Help
If you drink coffee everyday then without knowing it you will have an addiction to coffee. If you dont have that cup of coffee then your hangover may be worse due to the coffee withdrawal symptoms you will experience. So in other words not drinking your coffee could make your hangover worse but wont cure it.
How Coffee Could Make Your Hangover Worse
For some people however drinking coffee does make the headache they have from the hangover worse. This is because caffeine narrows blood vessels which in turn increases blood pressure. Cofee is also a diuretic so you can become even more dehydrated. These two reasons could make everything worse.
Best Hangover Cures
In all honesty the best cure is sleep but if you cant go back to bed then the best thing to do is drink lots of water. If you need your coffee the best advice is to drink some coffee but in small amounts, half a cup then some water, half a cup and then followed by more water. This mix of coffee and water will keep your blood vessels dilated and blood pressure low so alleviating the worse aspects of caffeine but still giving you that caffeine hit.