How To Prevent Hangover? Drink Less Advise Scientists

A group of scientists from Canada and Netherlands suggest consuming less alcohol is the only surest way to prevent hangover. Drinking water or having a heavy dinner and breakfast does little to avoid the misery heavy drinking can bring.

According to BBC, nearly half of the over 800 Dutch student participants in the study who consumed water during and after drinking, and had heavy breakfast with fatty food, only reported small improvements from their efforts to stave off hangovers. Researchers found there was no difference in the severity of hangover compared to those who drank little or no water.

To determine how a hangover can be prevented or lessened in severity, researchers studied drinking habits of 789 Canadian students. Nearly a quarter of the second group claimed they never experienced hangovers after drinking. Researchers found that those who claimed they did not get hangovers simply did not drink enough to get one.

"In general, we found a pretty straight relationship; the more you drink, the more likely you are to get a hangover. The majority of those who in fact reported never having a hangover tended to drink less, perhaps less than they themselves thought would lead to a hangover," said Dr. Joris Verster, the study's lead author, according to NZ Herald.

The study's authors plan to carry out more controlled trials to understand how hangovers are caused before a cure can be found. For now however, the only to prevent hangovers is to drink less.