The easiest way to cure a hangover is to take preventive measures before you start drinking.

1. Eat something. Alcohol is mostly ingested through the small intestine, the next stop after the stomach.c If there's food in your stomach, it will take longer for the alcohol to get to your small intestine, and thus longer for you to get drunk. As an added benefit, it'll prevent hypoglycemia.
2. Drink water. If you start your night dehydrated, it will only get worse.
3. Prickly pear extract may decrease the nasty effects of cogeners, according to a 2004 study from the Archives of Internal Medicine.c However, it needs to be taken several hours before you start drinking.
4. Take 50 mg of vitamin B6, put another 50 mg in your pocket, and leave 50 mg next to a glass of water to take when you get home.c
   • Dr. Jeff Wiese of the Tulane University Health Sciences Center says it is the only thing proven in a double-blind study the center conducted to help a hangover.c
   • Doses of over 500 mg per day can be toxic, so don't take too much!c

Now that you're out, apply these steps to prevent a hangover in the morning.

1. Drink one glass of water or a nonalcoholic beverage for each alcoholic beverage you down, recommends Aaron White, PhD.c This will prevent dehydration.
2. Take vitamin B6 with water about three hours after your last dose.
3. The Mayo Clinic says that if your urine has a dark color, you're probably dehydrated.c If you're not peeing clear, have another glass of water before you knock back more booze.
4. Drink only one kind of alcohol.c Multiple types of alcohol increase your chances of getting a hangover.
5. The medical journal BMJ lists these drinks in order of least to most hangover-inducing:c
   • Pure ethanol
   • Vodka
   • Gin
   • White wine
   • Whisky
   • Rum
   • Red wine
   • Brandy

Tequila isn't listed, but since it's dark it's safe to assume it's on the worse end of the scale. Champagne, says the BMJ, is also one of the worst for hangovers. They add that cheap booze will hurt more in the morning than high-end liquor.

You may want to fall into bed as soon as you get home, but just ten minutes of self-care will help reduce or eliminate the pain that otherwise awaits you in the morning.

1. Take that vitamin B6 you thoughtfully left out for yourself earlier.
2. Wash it down with a pint of water.
3. Drink a glass of orange juice, says Dr. Rob Hicks.c The vitamin C will make your liver process the alcohol faster.
4. Eat something light to prevent low blood sugar later.
5. Don't take acetaminophen (otherwise known as Tylenol); many studies, summarized in the journal Postgraduate Medicine, show that acetaminophen can damage the liver when combined with alcohol.c
6. Don't take any other over-the-counter pain relievers, either. The FDA says if you combine them with three or more drinks, it can lead to stomach bleeding.c
7. In addition to drinking orange juice, you may want to try drinking some other juices that are high in vitamin C and B complex, or come up with a mixture. Juices to try or mix include oranges, grapefruit, guava and strawberries. 

1. Go back to bed. Alcohol effects how well you sleep. You'll need more in order to recover.
2. Drink water. Yes, even more. Your body needs to rehydrate.
3. If your stomach is bothering you, don't drink coffee or other caffeinated beverages.c
4. If you are nauseated, drink soft drinks or fruit juice.c
5. Eat something. In order to recover from alcohol-induced hypoglycemia, Dr Thomas Stuttaford recommends eating foods rich in protein and carbohydrates.c
6. Now's the time for painkillers if you need them. BMJ strongly recommends a quick-absorbing type like Alka-Seltzer.c

Also check out Mahalo Daily's How to Cure a Hangover Episode.

• Dehydration. Alcohol is a diuretic. This means it causes your body to excrete more moisture than you're putting into it.
  
• Hypoglycemia. Alcohol makes your liver break down its stored energy and flush it out of your system, the BBC says.c That wobbly feeling you get when you're hungover is pretty similar to the one you might get after fasting for a while.
• Congeners are some of the chemicals in alcohol produced during fermentation. Rule of thumb: the darker the alcohol, the more congeners and the worse the hangover.c
• Acetaldehyde is, according to a study done at UCLA, another cause of hangovers. Its effects include sweating, nausea and vomiting.c Sound familiar? Your body breaks ethyl alcohol (the active ingredient in alcohol) down in two steps: first into acetaldehyde, and then into acetate, which your body expels. That second step takes time, however, and if you're outpacing your body, that nasty acetaldehyde stays in your system.c
• Alcohol irritates the gastrointestinal system leading to nausea and intestinal distress.c
• Alcohol makes it difficult to get deep, restful sleep, says Dr. Jeffrey Wiese.c Some of the effects you feel are fatigue.
• Some doctors believe your body is also going through a mini withdrawal.c