# Why is greasy food the best thing to eat for a hangover? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-greasy-food-the-best-thing-to-eat-for-a-hangover/556261 "2010-10-06T15:49:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-greasy-food-the-best-thing-to-eat-for-a-hangover/556261/21 "2010-10-07T14:15:39Z")
I’d guess it’s a blood sugar thing. The calories in alcohol burn right off the top; some slower-burning fat and protein probably make your body feel happier about things, after a night of burning alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-greasy-food-the-best-thing-to-eat-for-a-hangover/556261/22 "2010-10-07T15:56:47Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > When you’re hungover you have low blood sugar levels which you need to up - I guess a good fry-up might help a bit, and eating helps calm your nauseous stomach, hence the joy from stuffing your face. But the grease/carb overload is likely to drag you back down once you’ve eaten it. > > I have found that the best hangover cures are > > 1. Hot sweet tea (fastest way to up your blood sugar levels and rehydrate) > 2. Sushi (something to do with the combo of good oily fish plus the kick of wasabi) > 3. A hot indian curry > 4. If all else fails, hair of the dog that bit you. Ahh brings back memories of Malaysia where a good roti canai (greasy as all get out flat bread and a spicy curry side) washed down with coke worked wonders as a hangover cure. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-greasy-food-the-best-thing-to-eat-for-a-hangover/556261/23 "2010-10-07T17:56:53Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > > [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > > > I’m the opposite. If I eat any food before drinking I get bloated and can’t drink much. I do best drinking on an empty stomach. > > Your definition of “best drinking” and **robcaro** ’s appear to be at cross-purposes. It seems to me as if you drink to get drunk; his advice is supposed to help avoid getting blind drunk and to help avoid hangovers. Well that’s not much fun. It’s called getting drunk for a reason, not having a reasonable amount of alcohol and doing what’s best for you; but to each his own. 😃 Back to the OP; I find that the best way to handle a hangover is to not to eat greasy comfort food because it just leads to an over indulgance of more of the same crap all day and then to a 3-4 pound weight bounce over the next three days. Thus I vote for either “Hair of the Dog” or eating some veggies before going to the movies all afternoon and indulging in popcorn (sans butter of course) and diet cola. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-greasy-food-the-best-thing-to-eat-for-a-hangover/556261/24 "2010-10-07T21:29:53Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > > [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > > > I’m the opposite. If I eat any food before drinking I get bloated and can’t drink much. I do best drinking on an empty stomach. > > Your definition of “best drinking” and **robcaro** ’s appear to be at cross-purposes. It seems to me as if you drink to get drunk; his advice is supposed to help avoid getting blind drunk and to help avoid hangovers. The amount of drink I can have if I don’t eat is not the same as the amount I need to have to get a hangover. If I don’t eat and don’t get absolutely smashed I can drink enough to enjoy myself without getting a hangover. ---
**Author:** ![NOLA\_Cajun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea666f/32.png) [@NOLA\_Cajun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NOLA_Cajun)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-greasy-food-the-best-thing-to-eat-for-a-hangover/556261/25 "2010-10-08T00:50:54Z")
Is it just me (I’m male) or does anyone else get really horny when you have a hangover? It’s like I crave sex multiple times (which is not much different then my un-hungover state, but I digress). Don’t know why but I have a constant hard-on when I’m hungover. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-greasy-food-the-best-thing-to-eat-for-a-hangover/556261/26 "2010-10-08T01:33:36Z")
> [@Skyscrapers\_Are\_Gravestones](#): > > I’m gonna have to go with ‘comfort food.’ I’m a New Mexican and greasy food makes me puke when I’m hungover. But Dion’s pizza or a real good breakfast burrito make me feel right as rain while I’m eating and give me the relief I need to start Hangover Recovery Movie Watching Day. Dion’s pizza or a breakfast burrito have almost no ingredients in common, but both make me feel better, and both are definitely comfort food. Hey, I used to work at Dion’s when I lived in Albuquerque almost 20 years ago! My hangover cure was a green chile and tomato pizza. Oh yeah, baby. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-greasy-food-the-best-thing-to-eat-for-a-hangover/556261/27 "2010-10-08T01:43:39Z")
Why is a meal at White Castle suddenly appealing at 3:00am? Same reason. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-greasy-food-the-best-thing-to-eat-for-a-hangover/556261/28 "2010-10-08T15:45:09Z")
I’ve always read that greasy, fatty food is a bad thing to connect with alcohol (though the reasoning was the other way round: why schnapps is a bad digestive after a greasy meal). The reason was that alcohol needs the liver’s help in being broken down, but greasy foods also need the liver to produce enzymes so they can be broken down. So both competing for one resource means both are being processed slower. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-greasy-food-the-best-thing-to-eat-for-a-hangover/556261.md?page=1)