How to Enjoy a Drink — And Avoid the Hangover

You already know that this is a killer the next morning. You plan to grab something to eat on the way to the bar, but then you're running late and your Uber gets lost and before you know it, you're three drinks in and dinner is long gone. If you want to avoid that hangover, don't skip dinner. Make sure your meal includes carbs, the UK's NHS advises. (You don't need to tell us twice.) However, the loaded fries on your way home won't "soak up" any of the booze — by that point the damage has already been done. Eat before you reach for that beer.

There's a school of thought that suggests that the darker the drink, the worse the hangover. That's because they contain more of something called congeners – chemicals that irritate brain tissue and blood vessels and worsen your hangover. If you suffer particularly from red wine or beer, stick to clearer spirits instead.

Dehydration is often the biggest reason for a hangover, so you need to keep your fluids up, with something other than alcohol. Make sure to drink water or a soft drink between each alcoholic drink and you should find that your hangover symptoms are minimized. Avoid fizzy drinks if you can: a study by the University of Manchester showed that consuming carbonated drinks can speed up alcohol absorption.

Even if you've been alternating between alcoholic drinks and water all night, drink at least a pint of water when you get home, too, and consume it slowly. It won't "cure" your hangover, but it will stop you feeling dehydrated. You might get up and go for a wee, but unfortunately for you, alcohol also disrupts sleep — another reason you feel so rough in the morning.

Studies have shown that smoking does make hangovers feel a lot worse, and that's just the beginning of the many issues caused by cigarettes. Maybe now's the time to quit for good?

Even party animals need their beauty sleep, and the best thing you can do for you hangover is play Cinderella, cut the night short. and head home before midnight. Alcohol and sleep don't mix well, and you're more likely to have nightmares and disrupted sleep patterns after you've been drinking. That adds to your grogginess and the "Oh god, what did I do?!" feeling you get in the morning.

Milk thistle is said to have properties that maintain the function of the liver, and although there's no scientific evidence that it works, it's been used for centuries as a hangover cure. Take one tablet before you go out and one when you get home and you might be a little perkier than expected when you wake up in the morning. This particular writer swears by it.

Organic wine and beer contain fewer sulphite preservatives, which are often said to be the unhelpful blighters causing your hangover the next day. So if you remove the sulphites, you remove the hangover, right? Not quite, but it's certainly not a terrible place to start, and organic wines tend to be better quality overall, too.