You go out, have a few drinks, have something to eat, have a great time. This vivacious circle is also a vicious one: "You go out, drink a lot, eat salty food, get dehydrated, and get hung over," says Richard Deitrich, M.D., an alcohol researcher at the University of Colorado. While you know it is never safe to drink and drive (don't even think about it), you can drink and, come the next morning, have the drive to get out of bed.

Before You Drink

EAT FATTY FOODS. All foods, especially fatty ones, delay the body's absorption of alcohol, say doctors.

EAT HIGH-FIBER FOODS. Chris Meletis, a dean at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine, in Portland, Oregon, says high-fiber foods break down alcohol and absorb it, keeping it from reaching the bloodstream as quickly.

TAKE VITAMIN C. Often touted for its cold-fighting powers, vitamin C may also guard against hangover symptoms.

TRY HANGOVER PREVENTION FORMULA. Two hours before you plan to start drinking, and on an empty stomach, you down one capsule of this over-the-counter mixture of B vitamins and prickly-pear extract. Jeffrey Wiese, an assistant professor of medicine at Tulane University, says Hangover Prevention Formula (HPF) speeds up production of heat-shock proteins, which help the body fight stress and inflammation. Real Simple testers said the supplement prevented the headache they usually get from one glass of red wine. Another tester drank much more heavily and gave HPF high marks the next morning.

While You Drink

AVOID CONGENERS. Many congeners, the compounds that give liquor its flavor and color, turn into poisonous aldehydes as they are digested the next day. "Opt for lighter-color, highly filtered alcohol," says Wiese. Typically, the more expensive the alcohol, the more filtered it is and the fewer congeners there are to cause a hangover. Skyy vodka, for instance, makes a point of its "four-column distillation," "three-step filtration," and "exceptional purity."

STICK TO ONE KIND OF DRINK. You can keep better track of how much you're drinking, and you're less likely to upset your stomach.

AVOID CARBONATION. Deitrich says carbonation can cause the surface area of the stomach to expand, which means increased alcohol absorption. The bubbles in champagne and tonic water, in particular, speed up the rate of absorption.

ALTERNATE WITH WATER. Guzzling water keeps you from guzzling the hard stuff, and it keeps you hydrated, which is key, because alcohol is dehydrating.

ORDER ONION SOUP GRATINEE. Onions are high in sugar, which speeds the body's metabolism and burns alcohol, and the cheese is dairy, which slows alcohol's entry into the bloodstream.

After You Drink

DRINK LOTS OF WATER. Think of it as a cleansing rinse cycle.

DRINK FRUIT JUICES. There is some evidence that fructose, the sugar in fruit, burns alcohol. According to doctors, fructose will also restore a person's blood sugar level. (Watch out, though, for a sugar rush and the ensuing crash.)

DRINK PEDIALYTE. Like bland Gatorade for vomiting babies, it replenishes sugars and fluid-balancing electrolytes.

FORGET THE BLOODY MARY. The tomato juice's vitamin C builds up resistance and the Tabasco's capsicum acts as a pain reliever, but the additional alcohol intake only postpones the hangover a little longer.

EAT BLAND CARBOHYDRATES. They absorb any alcohol left in the stomach, provide sugar, and combat nausea.

EAT EGGS. Eggs contain the chemical N-acetyl-cysteine, which can help clear the liver of harmful free radicals.

EAT HONEY. The National Headache Foundation recommends a piece of toast slathered with fructose-loaded honey.

TRY ACTIVATED CHARCOAL. Doctors says the fine powder helps absorb impurities (that's why emergency rooms use it when pumping stomachs). But it also tastes like biting into a briquette.

TRY LIVERCARE. These herbal tablets have been proved to block the evil acetaldehyde, but after taking it, Real Simple's testers were still slightly hung over the next day.

TRY MILK THISTLE. Its active ingredient helps detoxify the liver, but it doesn't do anything for a headache.

TRY ALKA-SELTZER MORNING RELIEF. These tablets contain caffeine and aspirin, which offer energy and headache relief. But too much aspirin can cause stomach bleeding in some drinkers.

TAKE A NONSTEROIDAL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY, SUCH AS TYLENOL.Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories provide headache relief without upsetting the stomach--just don't make them a habit, since some doctors believe they react with alcohol to damage the liver.

TAKE PEPTO-BISMOL. The familiar pink stuff eases stomach discomfort, replenishes electrolytes, and dampens heartburn. But it won't do anything to shake that headache.