You just can't avoid 'the morning after' hangover

Gorging on your favourite food or drinking water after alcohol intake will not prevent a hangover the next morning, interesting research has revealed.

If a person does not experience a hangover - and 25 percent to 30 percent of drinkers regularly claim this - then either they are drinking less or may not be telling the truth.

"In general, we found a pretty straight relationship; the more you drink, the more likely you are to get a hangover," said lead study author Dr Joris Verster from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

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, he suggested.

To reach this conclusion, a team of international researchers from the Netherlands and Canada surveyed drinking habits to see what can be understood about "the morning after".

Nearly 789 Canadian students were surveyed about their drinking habits and the severity of their hangover.

The team also looked at whether eating or drinking water directly after drinking alcohol made them less likely to experience a hangover.

They then questioned 826 Dutch students on their latest heavy drinking session, and whether they had food or water after the alcohol.

Nearly 450 students ate after drinking.

The students were asked to rate their hangover (from absent to extreme).

In fact, hangover severity was not very different between the two groups.

"Those who took food or water showed a slight statistical improvement in how they felt over those who didn't, but this didn't really translate into a meaningful difference.

"From what we know from the surveys so far, the only practical way to avoid a hangover is to drink less alcohol," Dr Verster added.

The research was presented the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) congress in Amsterdam recently.