These Are the 20 Best Beers in the World

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These Are the 20 Best Beers in the World

Tanza Loudenback / Business Insider @businessinsider

                                                                       

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From California to Belgium to Denmark

In honor of International Beer Day, August 7, the beer-rating and -review site RateBeer.com has curated a list of the top beers in the world.

The 20 beers were selected for their world-class recognition — some are accessible, some are obscure — and their elegant variety of styles.

From brews with robust cherry aromas to a dessert porter with strong but sweet maple-syrup flavors, keep scrolling to find out which beers made the cut.

20. Aphrodisiaque (Dieu du Ciel)

This stout out of Montreal, Canada, has aromas and flavors of vanilla, dark chocolate, bourbon, and roasted malt. Dieu du Ciel brewers consider this black ale a very smooth, mildly hopped dessert beer with a strength of 6.5% alcohol by volume (ABV).

19. Saison Bernice (Sante Aidairius)

A farmhouse ale from the brewers at Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola, California, this beer is dry and refreshing and made with the best local ingredients. Saison Bernice saw multiple yeast additions, including Brettanomyces, to enable further bottle aging and impart a slight sour flavor. Bernice clocks in at 6.5% ABV.

18. Grassroots Brother Soigné (Hill Farmstead)

With a mix of lime, hibiscus, and blood orange, this saison is tart, refreshing, and expertly fermented by Hill Farmstead Brewing Company in Greensboro, Vermont. At 5% ABV, this brew is well carbonated with a medium body.

17. Beer Geek Breakfast (Mikkeller)

Copenhagen, Denmark’s finest brew is an oatmeal stout composed of 25% oat-based ingredients and a nice touch of gourmet coffee. Mikkeller suggests the beer with breakfast because of its lingering coffee flavors offset by a certain sweetness that makes this 7.5% ABV brew highly enjoyable.

16. Citra Single Hop Pale Ale (Hill Farmstead)

This pale ale from the folks at Hill Farmstead Brewing Company is dry-hopped for bittering and flavoring exclusively with citra hops from the Pacific Northwest. Citra Single Hop has notes of grapefruit and tangerine, with a mild 5.5% ABV.

15. What Is Enlightenment? (Hill Farmstead)

In honor of its second anniversary, Hill Farmstead Brewing Co. created this American pale ale hopped with simcoe and amarillo hops. Orange and citrus aromas define this mild bodied beer with a 5.4% ABV.

14. Westvleteren Extra 8 (Sint-SIxtus Abdij)

This Belgian strong ale has a dark-brown pour and a thick head. It’s brewed in Westvleteren, Belgium by a group of Trappist monks and is sold only at the monastery. Westvleteren Extra 8 has found its type of beer drinker to be a person with a palate for dark fruits, malts, and chocolates, and a strong (8%) percentage of alcohol.

13. Serendipity (New Glarus)

New Glarus Brewing Co. in New Glarus, Wisconsin, calls this brew Serendipity — and with apples, cranberries, and cherries aged in oak with a unique fermentation process, it’s just that. A strong and unexpected mix of Wisconsin flavors, Serendipty is a fruit ale with a 5.1% ABV.

12. Maple Bacon Coffee Porter (Funky Buddha)

Funky Buddha Brewery in Oakland Park, Florida, has managed to create a diner-style breakfast in a glass with its Maple Bacon Coffee Porter, which has aromas of sticky maple syrup, coffee, and cream. At 6.4% ABV, it finishes sticky, rich, and sweet, leaving behind a truly unique aftertaste.

11. Grassroots Legitimacy (Hill Farmstead)

Hill Farmstead brewers have created an India pale ale that uses citrusy hops from the Pacific Northwest. Grassroots Legitimacy is also made with two-row malted barley and oats, and is dry-hopped copiously with simcoe hops. The IPA pours a hazy golden yellow and is 6.7% ABV.

10. Pliny the Elder (Russian River)

Santa Rosa, California’s Russian River Brewing Co. looked to the history of hops to create Pliny the Elder — the double IPA cousin to Russian River’s triple IPA, Pliny the Younger. Pliny the Elder is a strong and hoppy IPA with an ABV of 8%. It’s easily one of the most popular IPAs around.

9. Raspberry Tart (New Glarus)

This fruit beer from New Glarus Brewing is meant to be served very cold in a Champagne flute for optimal raspberry flavor. Oregon shares its harvest of berries with New Glarus, which the brewery then ferments spontaneously in large oak vats. This brew is extravagantly flavored and is 4% ABV.

8. Everett (Hill Farmstead)

Hill Farmstead Brewing Co. named Everett for the brewers’ grandfather’s brother. This porter was created in his honor and is crafted from American malt barley, English and German roasted malts, American hops, and Hill Farmstead’s own yeast. The result is a complex backbone of chocolate, coffee, and malty sweetness with a 7.2% ABV.

7.PseudoSue (Toppling Goliath)

Despite being named for the largest T-rex fossil ever discovered, Toppling Goliath created a brew out of Decorah, Iowa, with a delicate body and robust aromas of grapefruit, citrus, mango, and evergreen. PseudoSue was originally brewed at 5.8% ABV, but the brewers note that future batches will rise to 7% ABV since translating the beer to a larger 30-barrel system.

6. Gose Gone Wild (Stillwater)

Stillwater Artisanal Ales took Westbrook Brewing’s gose and amped it up to create Gose Gone Wild, a German-style sour wheat ale. The brewers added a massive dose of citra and amarillo hops, then fermented it with various strains of Brettanomyces yeast to create a juicy, hoppy flavor with a 4.3% ABV.

5. Zombie Dust (Three Floyds)

Brewers out of Munster, Indiana, from 3 Floyds Brewing Co. have taken citrus hops from the Yakima Valley in Washington State to create this medium-bodied, single-hop American pale ale. At 6.2% ABV, Three Floyds Zombie Dust is golden in hue and surprisingly but nicely hoppy for an APA.

4. Susan (Hill Farmstead)

The brewers at Hill Farmstead have created yet another beer that tops the list. At 6.2% ABV, Susan is an IPA that holds true to its hoppy tendencies. A perfect pour with a short white head, this beer has a nice blend of grassy and citrus notes.

3. Framboos (3 Fonteinen)

Framboos (or Framboise, if you prefer) is a dark, ruby red lambic-style beer with no carbonation. Brewed in Beersel, Belgium, by Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, this beer has virtually no head and a 5% ABV, with a strong raspberry flavor.

2. Ann (Hill Farmstead)

The folks at Hill Farmstead Brewery have created a beautifully complex saison by aging their Anna beer, a honey saison, in French oak wine barrels and allowing it to mature in the presence of microflora. The result is a 6.5% ABV, aromatic barrel-aged saison with hints of honey and citrus that’s true to its Vermont locale.

1. Wisconsin Belgian Red (New Glarus)

Each bottle of this Belgian-style red ale is brewed in Wisconsin with over a pound of Door County cherries. New Glarus Brewing Co. has perfected the balance to deliver a medium-bodied beer that’s highly carbonated and ruby red in color, with an ABV of 4%.

This article originally appeared on Business Insider

Beer

                                                  
                                                            
      

Your Essential Guide to Beer

8. American Lager :

Popular Examples:, Budweiser, Michelob, Coors, Miller Genuine Draft, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Corona Extra, Foster's Lager, Labett Blue, Yuengling, , Caloric Range: 135-155


Chances are this is the class of beer you're most familiar with. The biggest producers of American lagers, MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch InBev, collectively control close to 80 percent of the domestic market. Of all beers, these are the lightest in color and most heavily carbonated. Their closest relatives are the pilsners, but unlike pilsners, which rely solely on barley and hops, these recipes veer toward rice and corn, crops that add little flavor but keep costs low. Plus, a true pilsner is more bitter, with somewhere between 25 and 45 International Units of Bitterness (IBUs). American lagers, with scores as low as 8, are clearly more mellow.

7. Light Lager: 

 

Popular Examples:, Coors Light , Bud Light, Budweiser Select, Miller Lite, Michelob Ultra, Sam Adams Light, Amstel Light, Beck's Premier Light, , Caloric Range: 55-125


In terms of flavor, these beers aim to replicate American lagers, but they adapt the formula with two key modifications: less alcohol and fewer carbohydrates. Whereas a typical American lager has about 5 percent alcohol, light lagers typically fall between 2.5 and 4.2 percent. And compared with the 8 to 15 grams of carbs in the average American lager, a light lager normally has anywhere between 2 and 9 grams. That makes them your best option for cutting calories. Of course, like American lagers, they lack the complexity of other beer styles. In fact, with the lightest loads of hops and barley, these are considered the least flavorful of all the beers.

6. Pilsner: 

 

Popular Examples:, Victory Prima Pils, Pilsner Urquell, Czechvar, Bitburger, Lakefront Klisch Pilsner, Lagunitas Pils, , Caloric Range: 120-170


This is the beer that influences the brewing recipes of American lagers, so if you like the core domestic beers like Bud and Coors, you"ll probably love the proper pilsners. Born in the Czech Republic city of Pilsen, these beers are pale, light, and crisp. It's a profile they earn through a simple recipe that relies on four primary ingredients: barley, hops, water, and yeast. (By comparison, Budweiser adds less-flavorful rice to create its brew.) Pilsners, like the American lagers, are tan and gold in color, but they tend to have slightly heavier bodies and less carbonation. Authentic pilsners are difficult to come by in the US. Look to your local microbrew or imports from Europe.

5. Wheat Beer: 

 

Popular Examples:, Blue Moon Belgian Wheat, New Belgium Sunshine Wheat Beer, Sierra Nevada Kellerweis, Hefeweizen, Bud Light Golden Wheat, Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat, Shiner Dunkelweizen, Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat, , Caloric Range: 150-170


Wheat beer is created when the brew master thins out the barley with a significant dose of wheat during the fermentation process. In the US, there are a handful of microbrewers experimenting with wheat lagers. Not in Germany, though. The traditional German wheat beers are always produced as ales, and you'll recognize them by the words "weiss" or "weizen" on the label: weissbier, dunkelweizen, weizenbock, and so on. Compared with barley, wheat carries a heavier load of protein, which plays out as a thicker head in your mug. That protein—along with the fact that many wheat beers are served unfiltered—also helps create the distinctive cloudy look.

4. Pale Ale: 

 

Popular Examples:, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Bass Pale Ale, Anchor Liberty Ale, Schlafly Pale Ale, Young's Bitter, , Caloric Range: 140-180


The American pale ale is predated by the English bitter beers, but today some of the world's best versions are coming from domestic microbreweries. Craft beer sales spiked by 12.4 percent in 2009, and now capture nearly 6 percent of the beer market. It's still in the niche category, but it's a niche with enough support that you shoudn't have trouble digging up a local brew. Although to a lesser degree than in a lager, pale ales are crisp and carbonated, but with the bitterness of a pilsner. Amber ale is a close relative; it's just a couple shades darker and leaves a stronger caramel impression on your taste buds.

3. IPA: 

 

Popular Examples:, Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, Stone IPA, Redhook Long Hammer IPA, Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA, New Belgium Ranger IPA, , Caloric Range: 180-240


Looking for an ale with a little more oomph? This could be your beer. IPAs, or India pale ales, bring in loads of hops to cut through the sweetness of the barley, often leaving a lingering bitter taste on the tongue. The strongest variety—both in terms of bitterness and alcohol—is the imperial IPA, an ultra-heady brew that cranks the hop levels to maximum. Despite being high in calories, hop-heavy beers have advantages. Researchers at Jerusalem's Hebrew University found that IPAs were significant sources of polyphenols, a class of antioxidants that can lower your cholesterol and decrease your risk of cancer. Now you can officially drink to your health.

2. Porter: 

 

Popular Examples: , Fuller's London Porter , Anchor Porter, Yuengling Porter, Michelob Porter, Samuel Adams Honey Porter, Black Butte Porter, Flying Dog Porter, , Caloric Range: 140-220


These beers aren't quite as dark as stouts, but they generally fall outside the brown-colored beer spectrum. Of course, you might still sometimes find a light-colored porter sold as "brown porter." With beers this dark, the lines sometimes blur, but they are defined by strong barley flavors with mild hops. The key to both color and flavor is in the roast of the barley; craft beers generally are blends of brown, chocolate, and black malts. This can play out on your palate like toffee and roasted nuts or sweet licorice and toast. These are medium- to full-bodied beers that go down thick and smooth. Think chocolate milk.

1. Stout: 

 

Popular Examples:, Sierra Nevada Stout, Beamish Irish Stout, Samuel Adams Cream Stout, , Caloric Range: 125-230

This is easily the darkest breed of beer, often pushing toward completely black. Like porters, stouts pull much of their flavor from the sugars in roasted barley, but they balance this with a slightly heavier reliance on bitter hops. Casual drinkers are sometimes put off by the color, but generally these beers are very palatable. They're creamy with undertones of coffee and chocolate, and many of them are served with slightly less alcohol than the average full-bodied beer. Guinness Draught, for instance, delivers only 4 percent alcohol. But be warned: Those labeled "extra stout" are a stronger breed and often carry alcohol loads as high as 8 percent.

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Healthy Living 

Your Essential Guide to Beer

8. American Lager :

Popular Examples:, Budweiser, Michelob, Coors, Miller Genuine Draft, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Corona Extra, Foster's Lager, Labett Blue, Yuengling, , Caloric Range: 135-155

Chances are this is the class of beer you're most familiar with. The biggest producers of American lagers, MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch InBev, collectively control close to 80 percent of the domestic market. Of all beers, these are the lightest in color and most heavily carbonated. Their closest relatives are the pilsners, but unlike pilsners, which rely solely on barley and hops, these recipes veer toward rice and corn, crops that add little flavor but keep costs low. Plus, a true pilsner is more bitter, with somewhere between 25 and 45 International Units of Bitterness (IBUs). American lagers, with scores as low as 8, are clearly more mellow.

 

7. Light Lager:

Popular Examples:, Coors Light , Bud Light, Budweiser Select, Miller Lite, Michelob Ultra, Sam Adams Light, Amstel Light, Beck's Premier Light, , Caloric Range: 55-125


In terms of flavor, these beers aim to replicate American lagers, but they adapt the formula with two key modifications: less alcohol and fewer carbohydrates. Whereas a typical American lager has about 5 percent alcohol, light lagers typically fall between 2.5 and 4.2 percent. And compared with the 8 to 15 grams of carbs in the average American lager, a light lager normally has anywhere between 2 and 9 grams. That makes them your best option for cutting calories. Of course, like American lagers, they lack the complexity of other beer styles. In fact, with the lightest loads of hops and barley, these are considered the least flavorful of all the beers.

 

6. Pilsner:

Popular Examples:, Victory Prima Pils, Pilsner Urquell, Czechvar, Bitburger, Lakefront Klisch Pilsner, Lagunitas Pils, , Caloric Range: 120-170


This is the beer that influences the brewing recipes of American lagers, so if you like the core domestic beers like Bud and Coors, you"ll probably love the proper pilsners. Born in the Czech Republic city of Pilsen, these beers are pale, light, and crisp. It's a profile they earn through a simple recipe that relies on four primary ingredients: barley, hops, water, and yeast. (By comparison, Budweiser adds less-flavorful rice to create its brew.) Pilsners, like the American lagers, are tan and gold in color, but they tend to have slightly heavier bodies and less carbonation. Authentic pilsners are difficult to come by in the US. Look to your local microbrew or imports from Europe.

 

5. Wheat Beer:

Popular Examples:, Blue Moon Belgian Wheat, New Belgium Sunshine Wheat Beer, Sierra Nevada Kellerweis, Hefeweizen, Bud Light Golden Wheat, Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat, Shiner Dunkelweizen, Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat, , Caloric Range: 150-170


Wheat beer is created when the brew master thins out the barley with a significant dose of wheat during the fermentation process. In the US, there are a handful of microbrewers experimenting with wheat lagers. Not in Germany, though. The traditional German wheat beers are always produced as ales, and you'll recognize them by the words "weiss" or "weizen" on the label: weissbier, dunkelweizen, weizenbock, and so on. Compared with barley, wheat carries a heavier load of protein, which plays out as a thicker head in your mug. That protein—along with the fact that many wheat beers are served unfiltered—also helps create the distinctive cloudy look.

 

4. Pale Ale:

Popular Examples:, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Bass Pale Ale, Anchor Liberty Ale, Schlafly Pale Ale, Young's Bitter, , Caloric Range: 140-180

The American pale ale is predated by the English bitter beers, but today some of the world's best versions are coming from domestic microbreweries. Craft beer sales spiked by 12.4 percent in 2009, and now capture nearly 6 percent of the beer market. It's still in the niche category, but it's a niche with enough support that you shoudn't have trouble digging up a local brew. Although to a lesser degree than in a lager, pale ales are crisp and carbonated, but with the bitterness of a pilsner. Amber ale is a close relative; it's just a couple shades darker and leaves a stronger caramel impression on your taste buds.

 

3. IPA:

Popular Examples:, Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, Stone IPA, Redhook Long Hammer IPA, Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA, New Belgium Ranger IPA, , Caloric Range: 180-240

Looking for an ale with a little more oomph? This could be your beer. IPAs, or India pale ales, bring in loads of hops to cut through the sweetness of the barley, often leaving a lingering bitter taste on the tongue. The strongest variety—both in terms of bitterness and alcohol—is the imperial IPA, an ultra-heady brew that cranks the hop levels to maximum. Despite being high in calories, hop-heavy beers have advantages. Researchers at Jerusalem's Hebrew University found that IPAs were significant sources of polyphenols, a class of antioxidants that can lower your cholesterol and decrease your risk of cancer. Now you can officially drink to your health.

 

2. Porter:

Popular Examples: , Fuller's London Porter , Anchor Porter, Yuengling Porter, Michelob Porter, Samuel Adams Honey Porter, Black Butte Porter, Flying Dog Porter, , Caloric Range: 140-220

These beers aren't quite as dark as stouts, but they generally fall outside the brown-colored beer spectrum. Of course, you might still sometimes find a light-colored porter sold as "brown porter." With beers this dark, the lines sometimes blur, but they are defined by strong barley flavors with mild hops. The key to both color and flavor is in the roast of the barley; craft beers generally are blends of brown, chocolate, and black malts. This can play out on your palate like toffee and roasted nuts or sweet licorice and toast. These are medium- to full-bodied beers that go down thick and smooth. Think chocolate milk.

 

1. Stout:

Popular Examples:, Sierra Nevada Stout, Beamish Irish Stout, Samuel Adams Cream Stout, , Caloric Range: 125-230

This is easily the darkest breed of beer, often pushing toward completely black. Like porters, stouts pull much of their flavor from the sugars in roasted barley, but they balance this with a slightly heavier reliance on bitter hops. Casual drinkers are sometimes put off by the color, but generally these beers are very palatable. They're creamy with undertones of coffee and chocolate, and many of them are served with slightly less alcohol than the average full-bodied beer. Guinness Draught, for instance, delivers only 4 percent alcohol. But be warned: Those labeled "extra stout" are a stronger breed and often carry alcohol loads as high as 8 percent.

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The Truth About Functional Beverages

Beverages

 

The Truth About Functional Beverages

 MensHealth.com

10. The Truth About Function: Urban Detox: 

 

100 calories, 0 g fat, 24 g sugars


Researchers in New Orleans found that subjects given prickly pear extract, one of the compounds at work in this bottle, experienced fewer hangover symptoms after a night of heavy drinking. Among the dose of B vitamins found in this bottle is four times your daily value of B6, a vitamin that tends to suffer depletion at the hands of a long night of drinking. However, water still remains the best antidote for a hangover, and it doesn't carry the 100 calories this drink does.

9. The Truth About Glaceau Vitaminwater Defense Raspberry-Apple : 

 

50 calories, 0 g fat , 13 g sugars


Any boon this bottle provides to your immune system is coming from two primary ingredients: vitamin C and zinc. Vitamin C has a reputation for fighting the common cold, but studies don't fully support the claim. Zinc, on the other hand, might be a little more promising. A recent study found that daily zinc supplementation could increase the body's production of T cells, which help the body fight viral and bacterial infections. Problem is, the study used a daily dose of 15 milligrams—about four times as much as you get from a bottle of Defense.

 

8. The Truth About SoBe Lifewater Strawberry Kiwi Bliss : 

 

40 calories, 0 g fat, 10 g sugars


Aside from the standard B vitamins that lace nearly every functional beverage on the market, this one has the added bonus of two extracts: lemon balm and hibiscus. The good news is, one of these herbs has a high likelihood of reducing stress. The bad news? There's probably not enough of it in this bottle for you to notice. As for hibisucs, its only real value is in its ability to fight hypertension, but again, positive effects have only been found using doses much larger than what's provided here.

 

7. The Truth About Zico Pure Coconut Water: 

 

60 calories, 0 g fat, 14 g sugars

Coconut water offers the electrolytes of Gatorade with less sugar and no artificial add-ins.

 

6. The Truth About Propel Berry : 

 

30 calories, 0 g fat, 6 g sugars


The original functional beverage is also among the best. It's low in sugar, contains no artificial coloring, and carries a bevy of antioxidents.

 

5. The Truth About Gatorade G Orange : 

 

80 calories, 0 g fat, 21 g sugars


Gatorade is loaded with artificial coloring & sugar! While G2 used to contain high-fructose corn syrup, the company has recently revised their formula to eliminate the inexpensive sweetener. But the HFCS was, of course, replaced with another type of sugar. Gatorade is perfectly fine as an fast energy source before, during, and after hard exercise, but like any other sugary beverage, it can lead to weight gain if you’re a couch potato who’s guzzling it by the gallon.

 

4. The Truth About Gatorade G2 Glacier Freeze : 

 

45 calories, 0 g fat, 12 g sugars


Fewer than half the calories of traditional Gatorade, but with all of the same electrolytes to encourage full hydration.

 

3. The Truth About Glaceau Smart Water : 

 

0 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g sugars


Zero sugar, zero calories. Just water and electrolytes. Now that's refreshing.


Replace half of what you drink with water and you'll save 23 pounds per year! Start by avoiding everything on this list of The 20 Worst Drinks in America.

 

2. The Truth About Function: Light Weight Blueberry Raspberry :

11 calories, 0 g fat, 2 g sugars


The bottle boasts both EGCG and resveratrol, the star nutrients from the world of tea and wine.

 

1. The Truth About SoBe Lifewater Blackberry Grape Enlighten :

90 calories, 0 g fat, 23 g sugars

Any "water" with more than 20 grams of sugar has no place in your diet.

The 11 Best Ways to Ease a Hangover

Hangover Tips

 

 

 

The 11 Best Ways to Ease a Hangover

By: Brittany Risher

You know better than to buy anything labeled "hangover cure" for the mornings after a wild night, but there has to be something out there to ease the headache, nausea, and overall sense of feeling like crap—right? We went to the experts with your list of hangover remedies (thank you, Facebook fans) and asked them what really works. While the research on this topic is limited and there's no one solution to fix all the symptoms of a hangover, a few things can help alleviate specific problems. The next time you hit the bottle too hard, here's what can make the next day at least somewhat less horrendous.

Water

H2O is a must. As you likely know from the frequent trips to the bathroom during a night of debauchery, alcohol is a diuretic and can cause dehydration. Before falling into bed, down 16 to 20 ounces of water, says Daniel K. Hall-Flavin, M.D., a consultant in addiction psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic. And the next time you go out, he recommends ordering a glass of water with every beer—and alternate between the two to replace lost fluids as you go.

Sports Drinks

"Even though the diuretic effect of alcohol may cause the body to lose some electrolytes, it's not so much that you need to replace them right away," says Samir Zakhari, Ph.D., director of the Division of Metabolism and Health Effects at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. And research has shown Gatorade is no better for a hangover than water from your tap, so save your money.

Coffee

Lots of people—hungover or not—use a cup of joe to wake up and feel alert at work. But a trip to Starbucks won't give you lasting benefits, and caffeine can both treat and cause headaches and migraines, so this one is a personal preference. If you do down a cup, be sure to drink water, too, since studies suggest caffeine causes dehydration.

More Alcohol ("Hair of the Dog")

"Bad idea," Dr. Hall-Flavin says. "It will provide a numbing effect, but all you're doing is prolonging the inevitable, and it will likely make your headache worse." Another reason to avoid cracking open a cold one: Experts agree that if you use this "cure," the risk of abuse increases and could lead to alcohol dependency.

Toast or Crackers

Remember when your mom gave you toast as a kid when you couldn't keep anything down? This is good advice for adults who've spent the night hugging the porcelain throne, too. While no food can halt the roller coaster in your stomach, carbs can help bring your blood sugar levels back up the morning after, Dr. Hall-Flavin says. Normally when blood sugar levels dip, your liver reacts by producing more glucose from stored carbs. But if you've been drinking too much, your liver is busy metabolizing the alcohol and can't handle the extra work, so your blood sugar levels stay down, and you can feel irritable and tired.

Greasy Food

What you eat after drinking doesn't matter—it's what you eat before all those Jagerbombs that can help lessen the pain the next day. Food helps slow the absorption of alcohol, and the longer it takes the alcohol to reach your blood stream, the longer it is until you become intoxicated.

Pain Medication

Ease a pounding head with a pill (or two, depending on the recommended dosage), but stick to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (or NSAIDs, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen), not acetaminophen (Tylenol): "While it's OK for a headache, when combined with a liver that's working overtime to metabolize alcohol, it can cause liver damage or be deadly," says Dena Davidson, Ph.D., former associate professor of psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Vitamins

If you normally take a multi, go ahead, but no studies have found that any particular vitamins do anything for a hangover. And one night of intoxication isn't enough to throw off the levels of nutrients in your body to the point where you need to worry.

Exercise

One drink—a 12-ounce beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor—is metabolized by your body in about an hour, so the whole "sweat it out" theory is myth. At the same time, the endorphin release could boost your mood. And burning off a few calories may ease your guilt about how much you drank. Just be sure you keep your water bottle handy so you don't become even more dehydrated.

PLUS: From beer to wine to the last call, learn how to Drink Like a Man

Sex

"There is no research that shows that sex will make a hangover go away, but maybe it will make the time go faster," 

says Joris C. Verster, Ph.D., assistant professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. "If it makes you happy, go for it."

The Best Cure: Prevention

You're a grown man, you know to drink responsibly. But just in case you forgot: Limit your drinks to about one every hour. Your body metabolizes each beer (or wine or shot) in about 60 to 75 minutes, Dr. Hall-Flavin says. Drink faster, and your blood alcohol level rises faster. Eat before you drink and follow Dr. Hall-Flavin's "I'll have a beer and a glass of water" rule when ordering—and drink the water, don't let it just sit on the table.

And how's this for sobering: In research, “moderate drinking” by a man is defined as two drinks a day. More than five in one sitting is considered "heavy drinking." So think before you order that extra round.

 

 Suggested readings :

 

America's Drunkest Cities
The Best and Worst Beers
The Damage Drinking Wreaks on Your Body