New Year’s Eve is here and if you plan to celebrate, it pays to plan ahead to avoid starting 2025 with the dreaded hangover. Heavy drinking can trigger unpleasant hangover symptoms, including headache, dehydration and fatigue, as well as nausea and vomiting.

The effects of a hangover can vary from person to person, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. While hangovers are notoriously miserable, they can also be dangerous, since the symptoms can impair a person’s ability to make decisions or drive safely.

But there are science-backed ways to prevent hangovers while still imbibing the bubbly:

• Drink in moderation. While this may seem obvious, experts at Medical News Today point out that the more alcohol you drink, the more likely you’ll suffer the consequences. Individual situations vary but the general recommendation given by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans say that healthy adults who choose to drink should limit their intake to one drink a day for women and two drinks daily for men. If you are attending a party, try sticking to mocktails instead of cocktails all evening.

• Stay hydrated. Another trick to prevent hangovers is to drink lots of water to stay hydrated and reduce the effects of a hangover the next day. Alternate a tall glass of water for each alcohol beverage you consume.

• Take a magnesium supplement. “We still don’t know the cause of a hangover,” says Alexander, Mauskop, M.D., a board-certified neurologist and director and founder of the New York Headache Center. “Magnesium depletion and dehydration are two likely factors.” Mauskop says that taking a magnesium supplement before going to bed after imbibing can help prevent a hangover, and taking a second supplement the next morning along with Advil may ease symptoms.

• Choose your poison. Certain alcohol contains congeners, compounds produced during the fermentation of alcohol, that exacerbate hangovers. Darker spirits, such as bourbon, whiskey and brandy tend to have higher levels of congeners than clear spirits such as vodka and gin.

• Eat before you drink. Lyssie Lakatos, a registered dietitian, says that consuming vegetables, protein, and wholesome carbohydrates before drinking slows the digestion of alcohol so it doesn’t enter your bloodstream as quickly. “This gives your body a chance to metabolize alcohol,” she says.

• Set a limit on drinks. “That way, as the drinks are flowing, you will have a plan with a set number of drinks in your head, rather than accepting each drink that comes your way,” Lakatos and her sister Tammy, also known as The Nutrition Twins, tell Newsmax. People who pace themselves have fewer and less severe symptoms of a hangover.

• Get enough sleep. Try to get a good night’s sleep which can reduce the effect of a hangover, say experts.

• Eat a good breakfast. The morning after, eat a breakfast of whole grain toast with peanut butter and a banana. “Eating a banana the morning after a night of heavy drinking replaces lost electrolytes, especially potassium,” she says. “With the peanut butter, you’ll get the fat you crave, but it’s a healthy fat that helps stabilize blood sugar to negate some of the ill effects of the hangover.” Avoid eating sugar which causes your blood sugar level to spike and crash, exacerbating the hangover, says the expert.