Drinking water and binging on fatty food has no meaningful effect on the severity of a hangover, an in-depth study of university students has found.
In fact there is no escaping the consequences of a night of excess despite what people believe, scientists said.
The findings are the product of a Dutch study which questioned a group of 826 students about their latest heavy drinking session.
Participants were asked if they had followed it by consuming food or water. Just over half said they had eaten after drinking - but this had little impact on the severity of their hangovers.
Lead scientist Dr Joris Verster, from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, said: "Those who took food or water showed a slight statistical improvement in how they felt over those who didn't, but this didn't really translate into a meaningful difference.
"From what we know from the surveys so far, the only practical way to avoid a hangover is to drink less alcohol."
The study also found that so-called seasoned drinkers who boast of being immune to hangovers are deluding themselves.
An estimated 25 per cent to 30 per cent of drinkers maintain they can down unlimited amounts of beer or wine safe in the knowledge that they will wake up refreshed and clear-headed the next day.
But according to the study, they could be accused of being lightweights, with some four-fifths of a group surveyed separately being found to have consumed less than they remembered.
Additional reporting by PA
