What, specifically, causes the symptoms of a hangover? Why does eating and drinking make it better?
In: Biology
Like the other guy said, it’s still not fully understood. The current top theory is this (stuff in brackets is above ELI5, but helps with comprehension):
Alcohol (ethanol) is toxic to your body. Your liver has stuff inside it that turns toxic things into not toxic things. Unfortunately due to the chemical reactions that are possible inside your body, the alcohol (ethanol) gets turned into something more toxic (acetaldehyde) before getting broken down into harmless things in your liver, for you to pee out.
If you drink too much, you get too much of the bad thing (acetaldehyde) for your liver to break it down at the rate it comes in. As a result, your body needs to take a long time breaking it down into harmless things. This period, after the body has turned the alcohol (ethanol) into the more toxic thing (acetaldehyde), but before it is broken down to be harmless, is the period of the hangover.
It is believed that this toxic thing (acetaldehyde) causes the symptoms (such as nausea).
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