Most doctors will tell you there is no way to cure a hangover, save waiting for your body to metabolize and get rid of the alcohol. While that may be true, there are number of things you can do to speed things up.

Here's our guide to preventing a hangover and, failing that, speeding its departure.

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Prevent a hangover

Obviously, refraining from drinking any alcohol would be the best option. For those of you not planning to embrace a neo-temperance movement, here are some guidelines to minimizing the lingering effects of too much alcohol.

• Don't drink on an empty stomach. Have a big dinner or, if you consider yourself a professional, have a big breakfast. Even a snack is better than nothing. There's a reason bars have snacks: The more you eat, the slower alcohol will effect you, and the more you can drink. Eat before you drink and, if you can, eat afterwards too. Fatty foods are better, because they slow the absorption of alcohol. So go for a pizza or a cheesesteak -- or some smoked salmon, if you want healthier oils.

• Drink water. The feeling of being hungover is the same as dehydration. Drink water in between alcoholic drinks to make sure you aren't dehydrated when you go to bed. Failing that, at least have a nice big glass of water (or two) before you pass out on the bathroom floor.

• Know your limits. How much is "too much" depends on everything from body weight to racial type. A general rule of thumb: no more than three drinks in a 2-hour span, and no more than five in a single night.

• Put a B-complex vitamin, electrolyte and water on your pillow. So if you know you're going big, you might as well ingest these at the end of the night. Why? Because getting wasted depletes the body of many things, with B-complex and electrolytes being the most important. Seriously, down as much water as you can before you go to bed. Chances are you might be able to do some late preventative work once your night is called, and you might wake up with less of a hangover than previously imagined.

• Take N-acetylcystine, NAC. The science behind this isn't spectacular but there is some evidence that NAC does in fact work to prevent, as well as cure, hangovers. The idea is that NAC can bind acetaldehyde: the toxic, hangover-inducing metabolite of alcohol. When NAC binds acetaldehyde the body can much more easily get rid of it. Thus, it is a good idea to take NAC before going out drinking, to have it in your blood before the alcohol is converted to acetaldehyde. This is expecially good because it doesn't prevent alcohol's fun effects, it just helps to get rid of the bad stuff.

Cure your hangover

You ignored all of the above advice, and now you're lying on the couch in your underwear, clutching at the blanket tangled on your chest wishing the day were already over. Here are a few things you can do to speed up the slow and painful process of getting rid of that excess alcohol.

• Drink water. Yes it makes both lists. Alcohol has dehydrated you, and to speed up your recovery the first thing to do is get the water back in your body.

• Sleep. The physical effects of alcohol on your body combined with the late nights that typically precede a hangover mean that sleep is usually easy to come by. Embrace it. Your body needs to metabolize the alcohol, and if you can sleep while it's taking care of that, you'll feel better when you wake up a few hours later.

• Avoid aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen. Although all of these are helpful for relieving headaches, you're better off avoiding them when you're hung over. Aspirin is a blood thinner, but so is alcohol. Combining the two is a bad idea. Acetaminophen when combined with alcohol can cause liver damage, and ibuprofen is more likely to irritate your stomach lining when combined with alcohol.

• Avoid coffee. Sacrilege, yes. But coffee will just make you more dehydrated. One cup might be OK, but try not to down an entire pot in some misguided quest to wake up. Drink water instead. Or, if you need caffeine, try something mellow like iced tea.

• Exercise. Frankly, this sounds crazy to us. But exercise speeds up your metabolic rate, and thus gets the alcohol moving out a bit faster. Not for the faint of heart, but if you feel like going for a run, by all means knock yourself out. Bonus points if you smell like a bar sweating its way down the street.

• Hot shower or steam. Essentially an extension of the "Drink Water" solution, any way you can drive water into your body will help. Hot showers or even better a steam room, will not only help you with the essential water you need but will also help you metabolize the alcohol faster, aka sweat it out.

• Bury yourself up to the neck in moist river sand. Some people in Ireland swear by this method. It's really just here to illustrate that all those hangover cures your friends will tell you to try are unfortunately just folk tales. There is no easy cure, save toughing it out.

Conclusion

Most of the so-called hangover cures and over-the-counter remedies are as good as snake oil. Everyone's physiology is different, so what works for one person might do nothing for another. That said, if you have a tried-and-true method, don't let us talk you out of it. In fact, you should contribute to this wiki page by adding it.

If it works it works, even if it just proves the placebo effect.

Now if you'll excuse us, we need a drink.

Authors: How-To Wiki

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