Labels decoded: Electrolytes, B-complex, and ginger

Everyone has a remedy for the morning after. Most of them come in a tub, a sachet or a shot, and most of the labels are written to sell rather than to inform. So here is the honest starting point: a 2022 systematic review of every placebo-controlled trial of hangover treatments found only very-low-quality evidence for any of them. Nothing on a shelf has been shown to cure a hangover, and that includes ours.

What a good label can do is tell you exactly what you are buying, in what amount, and whether that amount is enough to do the one or two things the ingredient is actually allowed to claim. Three ingredients turn up again and again in hangover products: electrolytes, B vitamins and ginger. Here is what each one does, what it does not do, and what to look for on the pack.

Electrolytes: what they do and what to check on the label

Electrolytes are minerals that carry an electrical charge once they are dissolved in your body's fluids. The main ones are sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, chloride, phosphate and bicarbonate. Between them they keep fluid where it should be, help nerves fire and let muscles contract.

What alcohol actually does to them

Alcohol is a diuretic, at least while you are drinking it: in a controlled study, a modest dose of alcohol increased urine output compared with the same drink without alcohol, although the extra loss was smaller than most people assume. The bigger surprise is what happens next. When researchers measured dehydration markers and electrolyte levels in people with a hangover, those markers did not track how bad the hangover felt. In other words, you may well be a bit dry the morning after, and fixing that is worth doing, but dehydration is not the engine of the hangover and topping up electrolytes will not switch it off.

So treat an electrolyte drink as what it is: a sensible way to rehydrate. Glucose, sodium and citric acid help in the replacement of lost water and body salt, and magnesium contributes to normal electrolyte balance. That is the honest claim, and it is a useful one.

What to look for on electrolyte labels

• Sodium, with an amount. Sodium is the electrolyte that matters most for holding on to the fluid you drink. In a classic post-exercise rehydration study, drinks with more sodium left people better hydrated six hours later than the same volume of a low-sodium drink. If the label does not state a sodium figure per serving, it is a flavoured drink, not a rehydration drink.
• A little glucose alongside the sodium. Sodium and glucose are absorbed together in the gut, which is the basis of every oral rehydration solution. A few grams per serving is plenty. Humans Against carries 3 g of glucose per sachet, which is why it is low-sugar rather than sugar-free.
• Magnesium and potassium, with percentages. UK labels give vitamins and minerals as a percentage of the Nutrient Reference Value (NRV). A product that lists magnesium at a meaningful share of the NRV is giving you something real; a product that lists "electrolyte blend" with no figures is not.
• The sugar line. Many sports drinks are sweetened, and the sugar per bottle adds up. Sugar does not cause or worsen a hangover, but a meta-analysis of carbohydrate and mood found no lift in mood or energy from a sugar hit, and if anything more tiredness within the first hour. Decide how much sugar you want to drink, and read the per-serving figure rather than the per-100 ml one.
• Serving size. A sachet made up in 200 ml and a tablet dropped into 500 ml are not comparable per gram. Compare the sodium and magnesium per serving, as you will actually drink it.

For the fuller picture on when a plain glass of water is enough, see electrolytes vs water, and for the mineral science itself, how electrolytes support recovery.

B-complex: what the vitamins do and what the label should tell you

"B-complex" means the eight water-soluble B vitamins: thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), B6, biotin (B7), folate (B9) and B12. According to the NHS, between them they help the body release energy from food, keep the nervous system healthy and make red blood cells.

B vitamins and alcohol: what is actually known

Regular heavy drinking is a recognised cause of low folate, which the NHS lists among the diet-related causes of folate deficiency. That is a long-term pattern, not something a single night does to you. The more interesting question, whether a B-complex does anything for the hangover itself, has a short answer: we could find no placebo-controlled trial that has tested one. The one piece of human evidence is a small observational study of 23 social drinkers, which found that people whose everyday diets were higher in niacin (B3) and zinc reported milder hangovers. That is an association in a small group, not proof that a supplement would do the same, and the authors said as much.

You may also read that B vitamins "break down" alcohol. The grain of truth is that niacin is the building block of NAD+, the coenzyme that the alcohol-metabolising enzymes use. That does not mean taking more B3 clears alcohol faster; your liver sets the pace.

What the B vitamins are allowed to claim, because the GB Nutrition and Health Claims Register backs it, is useful on a tired morning: thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, B6, biotin and B12 all contribute to normal energy-yielding metabolism; riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, B6 and B12 contribute to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue; and thiamin, niacin, B6, biotin and B12 contribute to normal functioning of the nervous system.

What to look for on B-complex labels

• Each vitamin named, with an amount and a % NRV. "B-complex" on the front tells you nothing. The nutrition table on the back should list each vitamin separately. If a product only lists three or four, it is a partial B blend, which is fine, but it is not a complex.
• Sensible doses, not heroic ones. Because B vitamins are water-soluble, products often pile them in at many times the NRV. Most of the excess leaves in your urine, but not all of it is harmless: the NHS advises against taking more than 10 mg of vitamin B6 a day from supplements unless a doctor says otherwise, and high doses of nicotinic acid (one form of B3) cause flushing. For the authorised claims to apply, a serving only needs to provide 15% of the NRV or more; around 100% covers a day.
• The form of B3. Niacin comes as nicotinic acid or nicotinamide. Nicotinamide does not cause the flush. Humans Against uses nicotinamide.
• What else is in the serving. If the B vitamins come in a drink, the same sugar and sodium checks above apply.

You will also get B vitamins from a decent breakfast: meat, fish, eggs, dairy, leafy greens, pulses and fortified cereals all count. Our guide to the best foods for the morning after covers the plate side of it.

Ginger: what it is good for and how to read a ginger label

Ginger is the rhizome (underground stem) of Zingiber officinale. Its heat comes from compounds called gingerols, which partly convert to shogaols when the root is dried or cooked. Ginger naturally supports the digestive system, and it reduces feelings of travel sickness, which is the use most people know it for.

Here is where honesty matters. Ginger has been studied for nausea in other settings, motion sickness above all, but we could find no placebo-controlled trial of ginger for hangover nausea, and the 2022 systematic review found only very-low-quality evidence for any hangover treatment at all. So a product that promises ginger will "settle your hungover stomach" is extrapolating. If ginger helps you feel better on a queasy morning, enjoy it; just know that the evidence is for travel sickness and digestion, not for the morning after.

What to look for on labels with ginger

• Real ginger root, named. Look for "ginger root" or Zingiber officinale in the ingredients, not "ginger flavouring" or "natural flavours". A ginger-flavoured drink can contain no ginger at all.
• The amount per serving. A supplement should state milligrams of ginger root or extract per serving. A tea or shot rarely does, which makes it hard to know what you are getting.
• The extract ratio. Extracts are written as a ratio such as 20:1, meaning 20 g of root was concentrated into 1 g of extract. Humans Against contains 75 mg of a 20:1 ginger root extract per sachet. A ratio with no amount beside it is marketing; an amount with no ratio is at least honest.
• Sugar and fizz. Ginger beer and many ginger shots are mostly sugar, and some ginger beers contain very little ginger. Check the per-serving sugar figure and the position of ginger in the ingredients list, which runs from largest to smallest.

The label checklist at a glance

When to take electrolytes, B-complex and ginger

Taking any of these before you go out, "to prepare your body", has no evidence behind it. No trial has shown that pre-loading vitamins or electrolytes prevents a hangover, and we would rather say that plainly than sell you a ritual. What you do the night before that genuinely matters is covered in how to avoid a rough morning after: less alcohol, more slowly, with food and water alongside it.

The morning after is where these ingredients earn their place. Start with fluid: water, or an electrolyte drink if you want the sodium and glucose doing the work of holding it in. Eat something. Then, if you reach for a sachet, read it the way this article has taught you to. Our own directions are simple: empty one or two sachets into a glass, add 200 ml of cold water, stir, and drink within an hour. Do not exceed two sachets a day. Each sachet also contains 100 mg of caffeine, about the same as a cup of coffee; the maximum recommended caffeine intake is 400 mg a day from all sources, so count your coffees. Our morning-after routine puts the whole sequence together.