Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest The year-end holiday season is usually filled with overflowing drinks from holiday parties and reunions. We’ve all (at one point or another) woken up after a night of debauchery to one of the worst feelings you can put yourself through (since it’s no one else’s fault that you drank that much!). But this is not the time to lay blame because the hangover is punishment enough. Some smartasses say that the best way to avoid a hangover is to not drink, but it is a season of revelry and drinking is part of the festivities. So, here are some tips for drinking alcohol without them coming back to haunt you the next day. BEFORE DRINKING: The Preparation Load up on food – This is the time to indulge, so sure, have another bite of those Noche Buena leftovers. Greasy food and carbs (lechon, hamon, crispy pata, fried chicken, pasta, and that extra rice) may blunt the effects of a hangover because they slow down the absorption of alcohol and (to be technical) help reduce acetaldehyde formation in the stomach (thought to be the main cause of hangovers). Make the holiday season your cheat night. And just so this isn’t all about the booze, this practice is commonly referred to as “soakage.” Many Mediterranean cultures also swear by having a spoon of olive oil (sounds a bit icky but hey, it works!), before heading out to drink. Drink vitamins – Vitamin B complex, to be precise. Your body uses up a lot of nutrients when metabolizing alcohol. This may destroy essential B vitamins. So pop a B complex. Eat a hardboiled egg – Apparently, the protein in the yolk primes the stomach and you’re good for a few drinks without fearing for your head the next day. Commit to a certain number of drinks – if you set an intention to only maybe drink five beers tonight (add or subtract depending on what kind of night you want to have), you will be (hopefully) less likely to go overboard and drink too much. WHILE YOU DRINK: Try to Remember So you’ve done your prep for a night out and now you’re out with friends partying the night away. It would be beneficial for you to try to remember these things (“try” because let’s face it, it’s hard to remember a lot of things when you’re out drinking with your friends). Drink fresh – by this we mean, make sure to read on “best before dates”. You may enjoy a lot of open bars this season, and some of your friends or relatives may have stocked up on cases at grocery store sales and accidentally bought old stocks. There are certain health risks associated with spoiled drinks, so, here’s a helpful tip: when it comes to beer, always check where it originates from. The closer you are to where it’s brewed, the fresher it is for sure. Pace your drinking – Try to limit yourself to one drink per hour (yes, yes, we hear you, just “try”). It allows your body time to process the alcohol so the effects won’t be so harsh the next day and it will lessen the chances of drunk dialing your ex. Swap your hard liquor with beer – It’s about portion control. Truth is, alcohol is alcohol but you’ll likely get drunk faster with hard liquor than with beer because there’s less liquid in your glass. Beer gives you more pacing; it’s more likely that your friends having shots will finish half the bottle of tequila while you are still nursing your first or second bottle of beer. We’ve all got that one friend who ends up twerking on top of the table after a few too many shots of hard liquor. Stick to one kind of alcohol – Mixing drinks is one of the ways you can drink too much alcohol really fast and almost guarantees that you wake up feeling like a building fell on your head. Clear spirits like vodka and gin have fewer congeners (chemical by-products of spirits that contribute to hangovers) than darker colored ones like rum or bourbon. If you can’t stick to one drink, go by the old saying, “Liquor before beer, never fear. Beer before liquor, never sicker.” It may just be a myth, but Filipinos like to drink beer after hard liquor as “panghugas” (something to wash it down with). So maybe we’re on to something here. Stay away from drinking games – That is if you want to be a party pooper. Keep eating – “Pulutan” (bar chow like salpicao, chicken skin chicharon, chicken wings, and sisig are some of our guilty pleasures) keeps you full and slows down the absorption of alcohol in your body. It does increase the chances of you throwing up and it does remind you of what you had the night before, but it’s a risk worth taking. Stay hydrated while boozing – We’ve all heard this one. Drink a glass of water between alcoholic beverages. Not only does this rehydrate you (so you don’t feel like a raisin when you wake up), it will keep you fuller and give you more time between drinks. Of course, before you go drinking, it is best to know your body’s capacity to absorb alochol. Moderation, as always, is the key. This list of tips is brought to you by San Miguel Brewery Inc. (SMB), the largest producer of beer in the Philippines. The company guarantees its consumer’s fresh beers because it comes from breweries present in every major city in the Philippines. This holiday season enjoy a drink or two with your loved ones with San Miguel’s nine world-class beer brands: San Miguel Pale Pilsen, San Mig Light, Red Horse Beer, San Miguel Flavored Beer, San Mig Zero, San Miguel Premium All Malt, Cerveza Negra, San Miguel Super Dry and, in the Visayas and Mindanao, Gold Eagle Beer.