I big component to hangovers is dehydration. Both alcohol and caffeine are diuretics, so bourbon and cokes hit you double in that regard (the diuretic effect of the coke more than outweighs the additional fluid you intake). I have no idea whether sugar compounds a hangover, but one way to test would be to do the same thing with Diet Cokes.

Salt, on the other hand, contracts the diuretic effect, and food slows down absorbtion into the blood stream, which is why both can lesson a hangover (as long as your reaction to being thirsty from the salt is to drink water and not more alcohol).

Why
 

Do you take as a paramour the sort man who does not wash behind his ears? I think you need to raise your standards.

I am in this camp as well, but if you do need a mixer, make it a diet drink (i.e., no sugar). I think the reason is that sugar is dehydrating.

I drink grain. Out of the bottle. Occassionally I dissolve some sugar free tic tacs in it to take the edge off the bitterness.

God, man. Stay away from the grain punch. You'll get raped by an ultimate frisbee team.

Moo
 

Odd. I would havce guessed liver would fall aprt if you tried to beat a fish to death with it. I guess the extra fat from the force-feeding helps glue it together through repeated whacks at the fish.

I believe that's how he gets the salty "food" to fight the hangover.

Britassoc disc
 

First on-board proposal?

This explains a lot. NTTAWWT.

Here is my solution for avoiding hangovers.

Before going to sleep take:

1) A B Complex multivitamin. Somehow these help the liver process the alcohol and become depleted when you drink. Doctors give B-Vitamin shots to really hungover people.

2) Aspirin - that is before going to bed. I think it thins the blood which helps for some reason. It has to be Aspirin and not some other pain killer. If you take Excedrin the caffein helps speed up the processing of the Alcohol, but may also prevent you from getting to sleep.

3) Water - for dehydration

4) Salty food. - combats diaretic effects and dilutes the alcohol.

5) Sob'r-K Detoxifier. Recommended by Consumer Reports. Absorbs impurities from the Alcohol that cause hangovers (the impurities cause much of the hangover and that is why higher end alcohol causes less of a hangover).

Or just keep drinking.

Good advice, but those are a lot of steps to remember when you're wasted. You'd have to set up a hangover kit in your bedroom before going out.

And remember -- NO TYLENOL.

Too true. Keys, wallet, and the third verse to "The Broad Black Brimmer" are about the only things I consistently remember.

All you big fancy lawyers and your precious livers.

Imagine what you'd have to remember if you woke up in a different bed every time you got trashed.

How could one fit B vitamins, aspirin, water, fritos & slim jims, the detoxifier, condoms, a toothbrush, a small tube of moisturizer, lip balm, her cell phone, ID, cash card, and keys in her little going-out purse?

I have the excedrin, the B Vitamins and the Sob'r-k all in one bottle. I have water and frozen burritos (for the microwave) in my freezer.

This combination really does the trick.