Alcohol severely depletes B-vitamins, thus contributing to mood swings and depression. Make a point of eating a large bowl of B-vitamin enriched breakfast cereal the morning after a boozy evening.

Caffeine might make you feel more alert when needed, but high consumption jangles your nerves and raises adrenaline levels during stressful situations. This negatively affects the body's recovery systems. Choose decaf or, even better, one of the excellent herbal coffees around, such as dandelion coffee. A weak tea gives less of a jolt than coffee.

Herbal helpers to calm you down include chamomile or lemon verbena teas.

Hangover cures

The best way to avoid a hangover is obviously to drink less - women are advised to drink no more than one unit a day (that is one small glass of wine, one pub measure of spirit or half a pint of regular beer), and men can get away with two units - this lack of equality relates to differences in liver size. But if you are likely to over-indulge, try the following tips:

• Avoid fizzy mixers as the carbon dioxide can speed up alcohol absorption.
• Avoid pre-dinner drinks and only drink alcohol with your meal - it's not good on an empty stomach.
• Avoid mixing drinks and stick to either white or red wine.
• If you have symptoms such as a blocked nose, headaches or red cheeks when you drink, you may have an intolerance - switch your favourite tipple to something else that doesn?t affect you.
• The hair-of-the-dog (drinking alcohol the next day) only works because it delays the onset of symptoms - better to have a good breakfast to balance your blood sugar!
• Take milk thistle herbal capsules daily, starting one month before the party season, to support your liver and reduce alcohol damage.

Also see:
Herbal Hangover Treatments