You forgot the asparagus, didn’t you?

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—The holidays bring people together, and sometimes, those people come a-knockin' with bottles of wine, cases of beer, cocktail mixers, or champagne, creating perfect conditions for alcohol overload, and that dreaded next-morning bedmate, the hangover. But there are ways to enjoy drinks without waking up to the feeling that there's a woodpecker trying to crack its way out of your head. With some careful planning and, of course, sensible drinking, you can enjoy the holidays without wrecking your entire next day.

Here are effective tactics to prevent a holiday hangover:

• Eat the anti-hangover veggie. Eating asparagus before you go out, or while you're drinking, can help prevent or ease a next-day hangover, according to 2009 research out of Korea. Researchers found that extracts taken from the leaves and shoots of asparagus boosted levels of important enzymes that break down alcohol after heavy drinking. A researcher involved in the study said that eating asparagus after drinking could serve as a hangover remedy, too.

• Don't skip meals. It you're planning on going out, it may seem tempting to skip a meal and allot those calories for cocktails. But drinking on an empty stomach will deplete your blood sugar, leaving you shaky and weak. And starving yourself during the day sets you up to binge on unhealthy foods just as alcohol is weakening your eat-healthy willpower.