How to Stop a Hangover Before it Begins - 10 Great Ways to Stop a Hangover

One day I woke up with an atrocious hangover, and it hurt so badly that I told myself, 'It's time to stop. I can't do it anymore. It's not good. It hurts too much.' - Jordan Knight

Uttered in every language, colloquial dialect and tone of voice (usually strained), the above sentence is infamous for its frequency of use, following a heavy night on the sauce. It hardly ever rings true though - does it? Let's face it, the joys of being inebriated - that feeling of being King of the World and champion dancer to boot far outweigh the pain of the inevitable hangover - almost every time.

That is until you hit your thirties! Then it's all downhill from there.

The key to having a good time without the worry of the dreaded hangover though is to learn how to stop a hangover before it begins.

So without further ado, let's get to the 10 great ways to stop a hangover before it begins, as something tells me that drinking is about to occur!

• Veisalgia is the medical term for "hangover" and is derived from the Norwegian word "kveis" which means discomfort brought on by revelry and the Greek word for pain - "algia."
• The ethanol in alcohol dries out your brain, hence the pounding and air-headedness.
• Alcohol halts your body's production of vasopressin, a hormone responsible for aiding the body in its absorption of water. This leads to more urination and subsequent dehydration!
• Alcohol is a sedative!

French: Gueule de bois (wood-mouth)

German: Katzenjammer (cat-yowlings)

Spanish: Resaca (backwash)

Italian: Malessere (Malaise, uneasiness)

Dutch: Kater (tomcat)

Swedish: Bakrus

Latin: Crapula (My favorite!)

Finnish: Krapula

Mexico: Kruda

You just never know when these might come in handy!

The only true hangover remedy is to never stop being drunk.

Alcohol doesn't cause hangovers - waking up does.

Yes, as gross as that sounds, a tablespoon of olive oil before you begin partaking of those beckoning alcoholic beverages, will line your stomach and slow down the absorption of alcohol.

Ask the Italians, they swear by this method!

Alcohol essentially dries up the brain as the tissues are mostly made up of water and therefore if you are drinking alcohol in large amounts, a surefire way to avoid those pounding headaches in the morning, is to go one for one.

Yes, it does sound boring but it works and you'll still be drunk!

It's not exactly common knowledge but the cheaper the alcoholic beverage, the more congeners it contains. It is these nasty congeners - the chemicals responsible for giving alcohol it's character - that cause you to feel awful in the morning.

Pass on the cheap stuff every now and then and you'll save yourself the headaches in the morning. I know I'd stick in an extra ten bucks for the sake of a clear head the next day!

No, not that kind of pill!

As alcohol sucks you dry of vital vitamins like B12 and Folate, it's a great idea to take a multivitamin before you go to bed. While you sleep, those vitamins you lost will be replaced and you won't feel so empty in the morning.

Have you ever noticed how after you drink vodka, your hangover seems less severe?

Well, the reason this is so, is that the lighter the drink, the less congeners contained within it. Congeners are a chemical substance produced during the fermentation process and to cut a long story short - your body despises them.

Give it a try. Stick to vodka or white wine for a night and check out the results in the morning. I think you might be pleasantly surprised.

Don't think you can cheat though, by adding some beer or shots to the mix!

Alcohol also sucks you dry of potassium during your partying and this is bad because potassium is responsible for hydrating your body. Do yourself a huge favor and tuck into some apricots, avocados and even bananas before, during and after drinking and you'll wake up wondering if you dreamed the entire party!

Carbonated drinks like champers and white wine actually speed up the absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream, speeding up the process that leads to a legendary hangover in the morning.

Likewise, drinking whiskey and coke is yet another way to accelerate yourself towards the mother of all hangovers!

Research has shown that a full stomach can keep the blood-alcohol level down so before you indulge in that bottle of red wine or two, try indulging some real fatty food which despite the guilt you'll feel about eating it, will slow down the absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream.

Where's the lasagne!?

This one is fairly simple. Eat spicy food and what happens?

No, not the trip to the toilet.

I mean before that! Spicy food instigates a great desire for water to put out the raging fire in your mouth and cool you down. This means that you'll be drinking glasses and glasses of water before you head to the bar and start on the alcohol.

So before you go out, go for an Indian, Thai, Mexican or Spanish dish with lots of chili.

Your body also loses some of it's salts or electrolyte whilst you are drinking alcohol and this leads to dehydration, which in turn leads to that zombified look and feel in the morning.

Those hydration sachets of electrolyte usually used for treating diarrhea are the perfect way to restock those salts lost during a long night of drinking.

Before sleeping, mix one sachet into a glass of water and do the same in the morning. You'll regain some of your humanity!

Sports drinks also contain these valuable salts too so are a useful alternative.

So now that you know how to stop a hangover before it begins and you are armed to the teeth with methods, you can lay your fuzzy head down to rest after a binge session without fear of the coming morning's rude awakening.

No longer will you stagger into work the next morning with your head hung low. Oh no, on the contrary, with these new hangover cures at your disposal, you could very well drink every night and never look the worse for wear!

But seriously, I hope you found these useful and that they bear you in good stead for the coming festivities.

Enjoy!