Pre-party Plan: The Solution
The most important thing you can do to prepare your body for alcohol is to ensure your liver is in fine fighting form - after all, you're relying on its strength to process alcohol out of your system quickly and cleanly.
Top of your list of weapons here should be milk thistle (see page 39), which strengthens the outer membranes of liver cells, protecting them from damage caused by alcohol and prolonging the time at which they work at full power. In informal studies at the Integrative Medicine Medicinal Group at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, USA, hangover symptoms were reduced in student volunteers taking milk thistle in the days before a big end-of-term party.
However, you should also take a supplement called /V-Acetyl-Cysteine. This contains a mix of amino acids including one called cysteine, which in the body converts into the vital detox enzyme glutathione - this acts directly on the metabolism of alcohol. A study published in New Scientist magazine found that it prevented hangover symptoms completely.
You also need to get your nutrient stores in shape. The body uses masses of nutrients when it is processing alcohol: one nutrient niacin (or vitamin B3), for example, binds to the acetaldehyde molecule, transporting it out of the system. If your levels of B3 are low, this process will be impaired and alcohol can stay in the system for longer. Loading up on foods containing high levels of the B vitamins (as all of this essential group help metabolize alcohol), such as wholegrain bread, breakfast cereal, meat and leafy green vegetables, is therefore a vital part of the Pre-party Plan.
You should also aim to maximize your intake of vitamin C, which is destroyed by alcohol but which helps fight the cellular damage it causes. Aim for around 500mg during the day; to get this high amount, the best sources are kiwi fruit, blueberries and red peppers. You also need adequate supplies of zinc, which helps the B vitamins do their job, and is contained in red meat, poultry and wholegrains.
Lastly, you need to prepare your body to take in alcohol. If you are going on a binge, line your stomach. It's not a myth: if you eat before you leave home, you will be able to handle your alcohol more effectively than if you drink on an empty stomach. In fact, a study in the Journal of Forensic Science showed that, if you eat a meal with fat, protein and carbohydrates in it, you absorb alcohol three times more slowly than on an empty stomach.