HOW TO PREVENT A HANGOVER

Drink too much and the hangover will always get you. Yet taking the right steps to prevent the worst-possible scenario will help you through the next day.

BEFORE DRINKING

Try to eat a large dinner (or lunch or breakfast, for those of you who start drinking early) because any food will insulate the stomach, slowing the process of alcohol absorption into the bloodstream by letting the digestive enzymes get straight to work. It’s best to stick to plain food. As Kingsley Amis writes in his delightful book, Every Day Drinking, “Avoid shellfish, greasy meat like pork, anything cooked in butter. Again, no surprises, so save that exciting new Ugandan restaurant for a quiet evening.”

Fats and carbohydrates are the best foods for slowing absorption, and sugar intake helps prevent hangovers. Cakes and pastries are the party foods that have lots of all three.

If, like the Italians and the French, you eat starchy foods such as bread, rice, and pasta before and during a drinking session, you will slow the absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream. Your body will be better able to cope with the amount of alcohol you imbibe and it will be able to break it down at a reasonable pace.

DON’T FORGET YOUR COAT

Milk coats the stomach, protecting the lining from any alcohol damage. If you’re planning to drink, have a glass before you go do.

In a similar vein, the Lebanese learned the following trick from the Romans. To preserve wine, they floated olive oil on top of it inside its storage vessel. Air didn’t penetrate the wine, and thus it was preserved from oxidation, or reacting badly with air. From this observation, they decided that if they drank a teaspoon of olive oil, it would float on top of the stomach and, therefore, protect it from alcohol damage.

Friends recommend silicol gel, made from natural colloidal silica. It works by neutralizing toxins and irritants found in rich food and alcohol, binding them and removing them safely from the gut. Take a tablespoon before drinking to protect the stomach and intestines.

WEIGH UP YOUR OPTIONS

Finally, before you go out, try thinking about just how fattening getting drunk can be. Do the math—you may be unpleasantly surprised. Say six alcoholic drinks, two cookies, and maybe four sugar-based drinks add up to about 2,000 calories. Does a young man or woman’s social life improve as they become fat drunkards? No, it doesn’t.

All in all, it’s best to consider what to drink if you intend to drink a lot of it. Because beer is carbonated, for example, drinking it before liquor will allow your body to absorb the alcohol much more quickly, causing you to feel the effects faster than usual (hence the old adage “beer before whiskey, very risky”). Above all, don’t mix your liquors. Your body takes longer to recognize and metabolize individual types.

Finally, before drinking, plan ahead. Leave a large bottle of water and a glass by the bed for when you return from a heavy night’s drinking.

WHILE DRINKING

In addition to eating carbohydrates during any drinking session, remember to top up your non-alcoholic fluids, too. Water is especially important, as dehydration plays a big part in the hangover headache.

Go on the offensive by interspersing alcoholic drinks with water or water-based drinks. Drink a glass of water for every glass of wine or strong spirit. This slows down the number of drinks you have, and it also gives the kidneys and liver a break from alcohol. Try to avoid drinks laden with caffeine and acids, however. And as for carbonation: bubbly water is not recommended if you have a weak stomach.

Eating a few small snacks throughout the evening will help absorb alcohol, too.

Don’t try to keep up with the boys. Women just don’t have the inbuilt tolerance for alcohol that men do, even when they are the same size.

BEFORE RETIRING

As writer Jeffrey Bernard put it: “On retiring to the floor at night, the drinker should consume one or two pints of water if he or she can find the tap.”

Wherever you end up, drink more water, from the tap or the bottle. The dehydration of drunkenness stimulates the body to absorb water from the brain, which shrinks it a bit, causing the headaches, dry mouth, and part of the general malaise of a hangover. By drinking water prior to sleep, you counteract dehydration, and speed up the elimination of alcohol from the body. If you are in a nauseous state, take small sips of still water at room temperature.

Ban caffeinated drinks, because coffee and the like only act to further dehydrate your body. Avoid acidic drinks, such as orange juice, if your stomach is upset. If you feel up to it, a glass of milk before bed helps protect the stomach from too much acid.

Eat more sugar, because alcohol breaks down sugar stored in the liver and that needs to be replaced. Some people recommend drinking energy drinks such as Gatorade before going to bed.

Try this one, which comes from Australia. The day before you know you might be getting drunk, go to the local supermarket and purchase a small watermelon. Get five Berroca (now available in the U.S.) tablets and dissolve them in a glass of water. Cut a small hole in the top of the melon. Pour the dissolved Berrocas inside the melon through the hole. Give the whole thing a gentle shake, and put in the refrigerator. Let it sit overnight, or while you’re out getting legless. Spend the hangover day eating Berroca-soaked watermelon. It can’t be that bad a tonic.

I have also heard that taking two aspirin before going to bed is good preventative action. Alas, our research revealed that it could make your hangover worse because it will increase the ratio of blood to alcohol in your body.

Taking painkillers the next day is not a good idea, either. They contain acid, which only unsettles your stomach more. Some painkillers also irritate the liver and can cause long-term damage, even bleeding, of the fragile stomach. Avoid anything containing acetominophen because it and alcohol do not mix well.

Forgive me for having to bring up this unpleasantness, but it has to be said. If you feel like throwing up, then get down on your knees and do it. Throwing up is good for your body because it gets rid of the toxins. The less alcohol inside you, the less severe your hangover will be. (The Romans, after all, retired to a vomitorium midway during a drinking session, relieved themselves, and returned to the party.) Remember, however, that vomiting will dehydrate you further and you should increase the amount of water or juice that you drink.

While all of this is good advice, in the end there is only one foolproof preventative: the words “No more.”