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Sports drinks: Who knew those sugary drinks can help you sober up?   High in electrolytes, drinks like Gatorade can help replenish what the kidneys have excreted during drinking. Take before bedtime.

Almonds: American Indians contend that eating six raw almonds before imbibing helps prevent intoxication.  Plus, they taste good!

Peanut Butter: Eating peanut butter before drinking is an African remedy.  With nuts or without, you'll feel better in a "jiffy" if you snack on some Skippy before you get your drink on.

Tomato juice:  To help stop the urge for alcohol, grab some tomato juice (not V8).  Add lemon juice for the full effect.

Water:  One of the most classic cures.   If you want to go on the offensive BEFORE a hangover hammers you, drink 2-3 large glasses of water before you go to bed. Drinking alcohol is very dehydrating and hydrating your system helps counteract the effects of the alcohol.

Activated charcoal: They may taste nasty, but they really do the trick.  Take one tablet of activated charcoal per drink while you are drinking. You can get these at 7-11 or any other kind of convenience store.  The charcoal absorbs the impurities in the alcohol, which are the cause of the hangover. The charcoal also absorbs important nutrients, so if you are a heavy drinker, don't use this remedy daily as you will end up with nutritional deficiencies.

Apples: Not only will one a day keep your doctor away, it will also keep that hangover at bay! 

Bananas: No, not Banana daquris.  The real thing.  One of the quickest ways to cure a hangover is to make a banana milkshake sweetened with honey. The banana helps calm the stomach, and with the honey, builds up the depleted blood sugar levels. The milk soothes the stomach and rehydrates your system. Bananas are also rich in the important electrolytes, magnesium and potassium, which are severely depleted during heavy drinking.

B-vitamins: Take the vitamins before you go to bed and let them work their magic while you sleep. If you forget, take them immediately when you get up.  B-Vitamins are important in aiding the carbohydrate (alcohol) metabolizing process and in dilating blood vessels. B-vitamins will help restore your energy level. You will need to take a high-potency B-complex supplement for this remedy to work (50-75 mg of B-complex twice a day, hopefully once before bed after indulging).

Chicken soup: Mmm mmm good!  Grandma's old stand-by, chicken soup, seems to work as well for hangover problems as it does for colds.  Remember, soup is good food--and good for hangovers.

Ginger:  Long a popular hangover cure in Asia, Ginger does the trick.  Take 500 mg of ginger capsules every few hours, or make a ginger tea. This will help soothe your stomach.  For the hardcore, go to a natural foods store and suck on raw ginger root.

Honey: Sweet honey will save your honey from hating your crabby hungover ass.  Take 2-6 teaspoonfuls of honey every twenty minutes upon awaking, depending on the severity of the hangover. Continue with the honey until you start to feel better, then take four teaspoonful with your first meal. The potassium in the honey helps counteract the effects of the alcohol and will decrease the cravings for it. Alcoholic drinks are acidic in reaction and satisfy your natural desire for an acid, the same as coffee and tea do. Honey contains fructose, a type of sugar that helps your body metabolize alcohol more quickly.

Lemon: When your head hurts, make lemonade out of lemons.  Add the juice of one lemon to a cup of black coffee and drink it unsweetened and without milk.

Lime:   As soon as you wake up on the "morning after" add two teaspoons of fresh lime juice and a teaspoon of sugar to 8 ounces of water. Drink it slowly. This concoction will help stabilize your blood sugar, which will be low after imbibing.  The lime already in your drink does not count!

Peppermint: Peppermint is a carminative, which is a substance that removes accumulated gas from the stomach and intestines. Make a tea by pouring one cup of boiling water over 1-2 teaspoons of the dried herb; cover; steep for fifteen minutes; strain. Drink 1-2 cups as soon as you can.

Cactus: For Arizona drinkers especially!  Cactus has been found to relieve hangover nausea and dry mouth according to researchers at Tulane University and the University of California, San Francisco. Prickly pear is known to reduce inflammation, and hangover symptoms are due to an increase in inflammation. Researchers found that C-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation, was 40% higher in the group that took a placebo. The extract was taken five hours before alcohol consumption.

Raw cabbage: Eat raw cabbage to dissipate a headache.  It may t aste nasty, but that's how you know it's going to work.

Sauerkraut juice:  The Germans know a thing or two about hangovers.  Drink sauerkraut juice with some tomato juice if you don't like it straight. These drinks replace lost nutrients.

Thyme: It may look like pot, byt thyme will maqke you less high, not more.  Make a tea by lightly crushing five fresh or dried leaves; place in a cup and fill with water cooled to just below boiling; cover and leave to infuse for five minutes; remove leaves and drink.

Vitamin C: This cure-all stimulates the liver to break down the alcohol. Take 2-10 gm per day in divided doses. Start at 1,000 mg an hour and built up to bowel tolerance. An excess of vitamin C can cause diarrhea, so watch out.

Eggs: This one really works.  Ask any drunk!  Fried, raw or scrambled, just get some eggs in you before you go to sleep.

Coca-Cola: Ditto. Fizz for the nausea, liquid for the dehydration, and a caffeine and sugar hit to make you feel a bit livelier.